The Retribution of Johnny Doe
by R. K. Iris
Summary: Alfred Jones Sr had it all-the world at his feet, his own city, undefeated fame, too many enemies to count. But when his life is taken by Natalya Arlovksaya, a priestess, she discovers he has much more-he has a demon contract, and she needs exorcism to keep him dead. With his son's help, she unravels the story of the most powerful man-but why did she kill him in the first place?
1. The World's Greatest Power

_For Adei (I'veMadeItMyOTP). Fun-loving, crazy, beautiful soul. My best friend. May you rest in peace, darling. All my love, R. K. Iris._

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Chapter 1

The world's greatest power

"Freddie! Whaddya doin' there, wastin' yer time?"

He hated that man's voice. It didn't matter whether he was his father—he hated that man's voice with such intensity that he was convinced he was born with this loathing towards that…that animal. That man was a miserable animal, and he took intense pleasure in making those who were forced to live with him also miserable.

He heaved up the basket laden with coal onto his shoulder, the muscles in his arm straining, but not aching, the way they used to just a year back. He was a spindly lad, tall and lanky, the muscles hidden and developed over the year. Hunger burned holes into his stomach and soul, a demon with a voice so intense there were nights when he just couldn't block out its voice, and had to curl up and scream in the pain. The demons ate into his stomach, ate his insides, drank his blood if he didn't meet their demands. And meet them he had to, the price of not doing so he knew all too well.

In retrospect, his father was just as bad a demon, just in another way—they were all demons. They were all slaves of circumstances, and the free spirit that existed in every one of them turned against this kind of slavery, and in their demand for freedom, they would exercise their power on those whom they could—their wives, their sons, their daughters. And they would never be at fault. It was always the Company's fault. It was always the job's fault. It was always their wife's fault, their son's fault, their daughter's fault, their sister's fault.

He hated this life.

He walked to the tram, dumped his load, and walked away before the dust hit his face. Alfred F. Jones' usually fair face was blackened with soot, and his honey-golden mane, tied at his nape, was also turned black. The only thing that the soot couldn't touch was the intense blue of his eyes, the colour of the electrified sea. Poseidon's eyes. That's what Debbie had called them. His eyes were the colour of the water bubbling at the tip of the Greek Sea God's trident—that's what she had said. He'd laughed, trying to hide his confusion and ignorance. He would never let anybody see those qualities in his eyes. He would never let the soot blacken the burning belligerence, the free spirit in his eyes, like the rest of them had.

He was going to be free of this coal mine, of this war, of this wretched colony. He was going to walk away from this place, and never come back. He was going to become someone, something. He wasn't going to be a man who worked in coal mines, drank the evenings away, beat his wife and son at night. No, he wasn't going to be that man. He was going to be a big man, a bigger man than the bastard who ran the Company. And these weren't idle dreams—he was planning for everything. Every single thing in his life, he was going to plan, and every single plan he was going to see successful.

"Freddie!"

And nobody, _nobody_, would ever call him Freddie again.

* * *

She looked around, and everywhere she looked, she could see his face grinning down at her. Creepy old man—he still had this town, no, city, in his old and wrinkly fist. But his grip was stronger than ever.

The fairs took place every two years, which was better, as compared to the previous decree that established celebrating that egotistical, bloated old man every year. Of course, at that time, he was at his prime, and people celebrated him every single day, just officially once a year. And as she looked around, she didn't see any of the old faces, but all of the old expressions—the joy, the awe, the celebration, the dazed look that all of these people seemed to carry. Some faces carried resignation, the grief, the darting look of trapped animals. Some others, whom Natalia assumed to have lived here longer than most, but not long enough, had a contented look, out of that initial stage of awe, where they knew what was going on, but not yet into the stage where they'd felt trapped.

Wild birds, whilst young, never knew the value of their freedom. It was only once the sparkle faded, and the golden cage became apparent for what it was—a cage—that the then older bird realised what freedom meant.

For Natalya Arlovskaya, priestess and exorcist, those stages were long gone, a life time ago.

People respectfully made way once they saw the colours of the House—the uniform of her monastery—blue-black over-clothes with gold trim, faded black pants and a white shirt. Of course, the whispers buzzed around her, as people saw those colours and symbols, as people remembered the incident that had taken place years ago. Natalya didn't care, and even if she had been anything like the girl of her past, she would have just ignored them.

_The land runs red with blood, Natalya. You just need to look hard at the ground to see it._

The words he'd written in his letters still haunted her to date. He was right, though—this city was built on the blood, sweat, tears and bodies of many men and women, all orchestrated by one man, by one power.

By one Alfred F. Jones Sr.

_Johnny Doe_, Natalya remembered the nickname he'd given himself. This was his city, and in his city, students of all ages were taught the story of their founder, as a part of the curriculum. Parents were advised to tell their children the story of their city's founding father, the man who gave them bread to eat and clothes to wear and a place to live, before going to sleep. In fairs like this, where he was celebrated, his greatness roared out of the loudspeakers they'd hung from the top of tall poles.

Alfred F. Jones Sr., or Johnny Doe, had been a coal miner before he hit it big with the shipping industry. A business genius, it wasn't long before he commanded one of the largest merchant fleets, and not long after that, he got into building warships, a line of business that meant minting money in those times of the Wars. A couple of strategic proposals had both sides fighting the Wars eating out of his hands, and when he called for peace, a treaty was made in the blink of an eye, and Johnny Doe was declared a War Hero without having ever stepped into the warzone.

As a gift of gratitude, the newly formed World Government handed him a piece of land large enough to be a small state, and Johnny Doe created an industrial-based town on that piece of land, starting with textile, agriculture and metallurgy. Within no time, business was booming, people were pouring in, and a city was established, the city of Fitzgerald. And now, Johnny Doe, sixty five and off his prime, was enjoying the fruits of his long and exciting life, the pleasures that successful business deals of the past had gotten him now.

She slipped her hand into her backpack, took out a bottle of water. She didn't trust anything of this soil. She looked around, watched as many people walked around, dressed up as Alfred F. Jones Sr., as tribute to the great man. It worked both ways—it allowed the real Johnny Doe to roam around without his usual security, and it got more people to prepare for the competition where the winner would be the best Johnny Doe doppelganger, picked up by Johnny Doe himself.

But the man didn't need security. Johnny Doe was the fastest shot, probably in the known world, and he was always loaded with ammunition around his waist and shoulders. Still, he wasn't one to deprive people of jobs.

_Natalya, he deprives people of their lives, of their freedom. He's a monster._

He was a monster. She took a sip of water. And she was here to confront the monster.

She took another sip of water, turned the cap, slipped it back into her backpack. Nobody ever questioned the contents of a priestess's bag, which allowed her to smuggle in whatever food and water she needed for as long as she'd intended to stay here. She dipped her hands in her pockets, and walked around, looking curiously.

"Alicia! Stop!" yelled a boy as he crossed Natalya's path, chased by a small girl holding a gun, squirting water all over the boy as she chased him. Natalia stopped, and a small smile played on her lips as she watched Alicia bring out another gun and squirt coloured water all over the boy, turning his shirt red. People paid no attention—children always had fun like this at the fest.

The boy turned around, and threw a water balloon at the girl. She dodged, and Natalya was impressed by the girl's agility, having dodged a close range shot at such short time. Soon enough, the water in the second gun was also over, and she held both the guns to her, frowning at them. The boy rejoiced, clapping and jumping and laughing at the girl.

"Haha! No more water! You can't shoot at me anymore!"

"Shut up, Sid."

The boy continued to laugh and rejoice, while she frowned at her guns.

Nat took a step forward, and would've taken a second one, if she hadn't seen the shadow fall on the little girl. She stepped back, and watched as a large man stepped out, dressed in brown slacks, white shirt and a brown waistcoat, wearing a thick belt around his waist with various holsters. His golden mane was tied back, his thick beard trimmed to give him an aristocratic look, and his glasses shielded his blue eyes.

Nat's blood simmered as her heart slowed down inch by inch. For some reason, she had trouble believing that that was a Johnny Doe doppelganger.

And when the man removed a gun from his holster, and held it out to the girl, Nat found her hands slipping beneath her blue-black coat, to the guns she'd fixed there. That was a real gun, and there was no doubt that that was the real Johnny Doe—no other idiot would have the guts to prance around with a gun, much less hand one to a little girl.

_Unless that _durak_ is me_, Nat thought wryly as she slowly moved towards them. And even though he spoke in a whisper, his voice was clear in her ears.

"Well, you can still shoot him, with this," he said, as he kneeled and held out the loaded weapon to her. The girl looked at the gun, and she knew, instinctively, it was not a toy like the ones she held in her hand. And when she looked into those electric blue eyes, flat and deadly, she grew even more fearful.

"N-No…I d-don't…" she whispered, stepping back, nearly tripping on her feet as she backed away from him. The boy also inched away from them, wanting to snatch away his sister and run away with her. This wasn't fun, this wasn't a game. This was scary, and they were afraid.

Sid's eyes darted around, trying to find a way to save his sister, and when he saw the priestess in black walking towards them, he couldn't understand what she was mouthing. He frowned, peered closely at her lips.

_Go. GO!_

He shook his head. He wasn't leaving his sister.

Nat rolled her eyes, but silently congratulated the boy's guts. Oh well. She'd have to save them both.

"Well, at least hold it," Johnny Doe said, and took the girl's hand, placing the heavy butt of the gun in her small hand. She couldn't look out of those blue eyes, and when that broad face broke into an amiable smile, her grip around the gun tightened. He let go of her hand, and the gun seemed to grow a lot heavier in her hand.

"There are a lot of baddies in this world, little girl. You need to know how to shoot," he whispered to her, running his calloused thumb over her cheek, and she felt a chill down her spine.

"B-B-But I d-don't want t-t-to shoot," she stammered, her voice barely a breath, her breath barely present as he rose before her.

"But," his voice played in her ears, "what if someone wants to shoot you? What if...they hold a gun to you?"

Nat saw the man hold a gun to the girl's head, and did the only thing she could think of—she brought out her gun with one hand, grabbed a bat from the nearby stall, and sent it spinning across right above the ground. The bat hit the girl's legs and knocked her out just as Johnny Doe pulled the trigger.

The gunshot echoed through the fair, over the roaring loudspeakers, and, for a heartbeat, everything stopped. And when people began running, Nat stayed, and waited for those blue eyes to turn to her and see her. From the corner of her eyes, she saw the boy picking the girl up and running away, lost in the crowd. Nat pulled out her other gun, and felt Johnny Doe's blue eyes on her.

Electric, deadly, apathetic. And that smile wasn't on his face anymore, either. "Why did you do that?" he asked her.

People ran around them, away from them. "Why did you shoot at her?"

He took a good look at her, and let out a loud, roaring, booming laugh. "Well, well, well, if it isn't déjà vu."

Nat schooled her features with years of experience. "That doesn't answer my question."

"Well, priestess, you see," he said, tucking his thumbs in his belt, "for every person born, one person has to die. It's the law of the land. I'm just trying to help…facilitate the process smoothly. And since she hasn't died, well…one of us has to die. And I'd rather it be you."

Within the blink of an eye, two guns were in his hand, but Nat had already started shooting at him. That didn't seem to faze him at all, and as Nat watched, he walked towards her, and she saw her bullets bounce right off him.

"That's how you've managed to live for so long, _ublyudok,_" she muttered, grabbed a stall and dragged it in front of her. She flipped a small flap on her gun, pressed the switch, and placed it on the stall, running as fast as she could in the other direction.

The gun blasted, taking the stall along with it in a whoosh of flames, and Nat felt the heat wave hit her with a force that nearly brought her to her knees. But she knew, somehow, that the old bastard would've survived that, too—it was just to stall him.

Nat pulled out a special gun from her belt, handcrafted by her. It wasn't a true gun, but it would have to serve the purpose of killing him. If it didn't, she'd be dead.

She turned around, watched him walk through the wall of flames—the explosion had set the nearby stalls on fire as well. Nat took aim, and started firing with both kinds of guns.

The metal bullets just seemed to bounce off him—they didn't even leave an impression on his charred clothes—and Nat knew it wasn't her imagination. But her special bullets were a completely different story.

One bullet ripped through him, and the force jolted him back. He looked at her, and she saw the momentary surprise at being hit.

"Weren't expecting that?" she whispered to herself.

The surprise didn't last long, and his eyes grew focussed again. He began walking towards her, not only with the intention to kill, but also to make her pay, and Nat knew if he got to her before she got to him, her dead wouldn't be a quick one.

Her metal cartridge was out of bullets, so she stowed the gun away, and pulled out another one of her special guns, and continued to shoot. Five more bullets hit him, went through, and gave her enough time to escape his line of fire. She hid behind a stall, took aim, and began shooting, diving behind the cart when the bullets whizzed towards her. She had to quickly change stalls, because it didn't seem like he was running out of ammo, but she was going to. Her jacket was good enough to guard her, but she didn't want a single one of his bullets to touch her.

If the _ublydok_ could live and _shoot_ at her with seven bullets in his body, she didn't want to know where he was getting that kind of life force from.

This was not going to be easy.

And when she finished the last bullet of her specially crafted guns, it didn't seem like it was getting any easier.

There was practically nobody left there—the entire fair was on fire, it seemed, and the only two people left on the grounds were him and her. And soon, there was going to be only one person left standing, and that somehow didn't seem to be her.

She stowed her guns away, and grimaced. She wasn't going down, not by his hands.

She pulled out two normal guns—one empty, one loaded—flipped the flap, pressed the switch, and sent the gun, now a gun-shaped bomb, flying at Johnny Doe, and pulled the sleeve of her jacket up as it exploded. As soon as the heat wave passed her, she let go of her sleeve, and began shooting in the direction of the flames. And when he emerged, unscathed, not even a single hair on his beard singed, she knew she needed something potent, and fast.

But when her gun jammed, she knew the Gods were against her.

"_Chert voz'mi_!" she growled, and looked down at her gun. When she looked back up, he was right in front of her, two guns to her temples.

And she had no doubt they were loaded.

"That was a fun exercise," he said in a flat voice, and she dropped her gun. "Any last words, priestess?"

"_Da._ Which God do you pray to?"

"None."

"_Khorosho._ Then you won't have any last prayers."

She grabbed both his hands, drove her knee into his stomach, and used his falling backwards to turn his hands, turn the guns against himself. And she dug her nails into his trigger finger.

_BANG!_

The two bullets nearly blasted her eardrums off, and blood from his face sprayed all over her. She let go of his hands, and fell back herself, watched as his dead body fell to the ground. When he didn't rise again after ten seconds, she assumed him to be dead.

Johnny Doe was dead.

Alfred F. Jones Sr. was dead.

But her problems had only just begun.

She took out a kerchief, wiped the blood off her face. She tossed the kerchief into a nearby pile of burning wood, and crawled on her hands and knees to him—she hadn't recovered sufficiently enough to be able to get up. She sat down next to the body, and pulled her backpack onto her lap, rummaging through for a body blanket. She tossed it onto the ground on the other side of her, and shoddily managed to unfurl it.

She sat on her butt, trying to get a deep breath, but just got smoke and burning wood, lungful after lungful. Cursing everything and everyone at once, she pulled out a small flask, uncorked it, and took a shot of potent vodka, grimacing as the heat hit the system, jolting her nerves into action. She stood, tossed the flask into her pack, stepped over the body and began rolling it onto the body blanket. The ground pulled off the rest of the charred bits of clothing, and when the body landed face first in the middle of the blanket, Natalya got a good look at the tattoo on his back.

"A purple lotus?" she muttered to herself. "_Chto za chert…_What the hell is going on here?"

As she stared at the beautiful flower tattooed into his back, why the bullets had bounced off his clothes, why fire didn't seem to burn him, and how he'd managed to walk with so many bullets in his body, all made sense.

The bastard had gone and sealed a contract with a demon, and the purple lotus was the symbol of such a bargain.

A demon contract, a city, a chain of wives, a basketful of children, and the world under his feet—Johnny Doe had it all while living. And, because of the first thing on the list, Natalya's problem wasn't how her transport was going to reach her, standing in the middle of a huge field, amidst burning piles of wood.

No, it was how she was going to keep a dead man dead.

Nat rubbed the growing ache at the bridge of her nose. She could kick herself. Hell, she should've just let him shoot her—at least she wouldn't have an impending migraine.

What the hell had she gotten herself into?

* * *

**A/T: This came out of a dream—a very huge dream, all of which I remember. I think. I've got a couple of names—I usually name stories at the end, but since I have to put it up…meh. I hope this name jells.**

**This entire story is for Adei a.k.a I'veMadeItMyOTP. I was told a couple of weeks back that she passed away, and this is my tribute to the most beautiful, fun-loving, crazy, caring, and talented person the world had to offer. She was there for me during my toughest times, and she was one of my biggest supports. Even though she won't get to read this, it is for her. **

**Well, I wonder what kind of crazy adventures I'll get into with this new baby of mine. **

**If you liked this, even a little, I'll be happy.**

**Love,**

**R. K. Iris.**


	2. One Big Mess

**Disclaimer : Don't own Hetalia**

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Chapter 2

"_Mein Gott!_ Why is it so dark in here? The awesome me demands an answer!"

"Will you stop your incessant yelling, Gilbert? It's giving me a headache!"

"I wonder what Katarina must be doing…_mi amor_"—

"Antonio, tell Gilbert to shut up!"

"Antonio, tell _diese verdammte frau_ to shut up!"

Antonio Fernandez did neither, but sighed in the fond memory of his fiery spirited and venom-tongued wife, and Elizabeta Héderváry and Gilbert Beilschmidt took to glaring at each other, even though it was pitch black in the box-like body of the van.

"Gilbert, stop, please. We've been locked in here for half an hour, and there's no way we're going to get an answer," Elizabeta pleaded, rubbing at her temples to try and soothe her headache, its presence partially contributed by Gilbert's yelling and cursing. _Átkozott férfi _couldn't keep his damned mouth shut—there was no use in yelling or hitting the sides of the van. They had all been called and told there was a short yet urgent errand to be done, after which they could join back in the fair. While driving back to the main house, all three of them had been stopped, dragged out of their vehicles and thrown into the back of the van—first Antonio, then Elizabeta, and finally, Gilbert. They'd been driving around for what Eliza estimated to be half an hour, during which Gilbert raised up a din, Antonio sighed about his pregnant wife's condition, and Eliza tried not to cry tears of frustration.

She was not going to lose her balance over some stupid abduction.

The van stopped suddenly. Gilbert lost his balance, pitched forward, and fell on his knees, howling so loudly Eliza wished he'd fallen on his face. Antonio stopped sighing and sat up straight, alert.

They sat quietly, trying to discern something of their surroundings in the silence that followed. The interiors were soundproof—Eliza realised that when there was no response to the din Gilbert was raising—and the silence just added to the growing frustration and fear Eliza was feeling.

Where the hell were they? And why them?

The doors opened suddenly, and the heat wave hit them without warning. Eliza cried out and fell back, while the other two protected both their eyes and their faces from the onslaughter of light and heat. They heard something heavy fall before them, and the sound of boots. They heard a light tap, probably on the roof of the van, and they were in motion again. They managed to see burning structures and fire, and the silhouette of a figure covered from top to toe in black, before the doors closed again.

The engine purred beneath them, but now, it wasn't just Eliza who was scared. Fear was a live thing in all three of them, accented by the charred wood smell they seemed to get from their new arrival. And there was the unknown object before them, which the figure had thrown in before stepping in. Eliza slowly crawled into Gilbert's lap, and they held onto each other tightly, not knowing what to do or expect.

"Move to the walls," a soft female murmur emerged from the figure. Antonio scrambled back; Gilbert and Eliza were already against the wall. They heard the soft click of boots, and heard her unlatching hooks. The figure dragged the shutter down, and all three of them covered their eyes at the sudden invasion of light.

"Quite the mess you've left behind," they heard a male voice say.

"Whatever you do, don't go back there," the female voice replied, by which time their eyes had adjusted to the light. The woman turned around, and they recognized the symbol of the House of Wheels on her coat immediately. She removed the cloth from over her head, and her wheatish blond hair shimmered in the sunlight. "I'm priestess Arlovskaya—the look in your eyes says you already know that. And this is Frederick—you know him as this town's clergy member." The man at the wheel raised two fingers in salute. "This has nothing to do with him—I simply brought you here at the behest of that man."

All of them looked at the object. It was a body wrapped in a black sheet that seemed to shimmer as light passed over it.

"Do not go near that body—stay far away from it, if you want to live." She turned around again to Frederick. "Is there any way we can get to a spot where these three will go unnoticed?"

"I can't say, priestess. I'll give it a couple of hours before missing complaints are filed—but given the state of the fair, I'm sure their absence won't be noted as quickly as it would normally. But why this sudden change of plans?"

"I didn't expect the dead man to host a demon inside him," Nat muttered, and turned her uniquely coloured blue eyes at the shimmering cloth.

"Ooh," Frederick cooed excitedly. "An exorcism?"

Nat nodded, but it was nothing to be excited about. She hadn't get gauged the demon's prowess, but if the demon could move even after half a dozen of her special bullets had hit, disregarding the fires, explosions and the other bullets, then she didn't look forward to having to exorcise such a demon. "Yes. Level three, probably."

Frederick laughed incredulously. "How did such a powerful demon go unnoticed?"

_Because the man himself was a demon._ But Nat had a bad feeling about letting them know who was wrapped in the incantation cloth—amongst many in that city, Johnny Doe was worshipped fervently. "Let us go." She turned around, and looked at the three people the demon had demanded her to summon.

Gilbert Beilschmidt. He was one of the numerous war-orphans Johnny Doe had adopted and rescued, and was one of Johnny Doe's biggest supporters. He had a huge stake in Jones Industries, acting as Doe's overseer for certain branches. The man had come from a bloodied field full of bodies to scores of men working under him, all because of Johnny Doe. She could just imagine the anger that would fill those peculiar crimson eyes if he realised that the very man who'd rescued him from death was now dead.

Elizabeta Héderváry. She was one of Johnny Doe's many secretaries, and from what Nat had found out, Elizabeta was one of the first set of children to roam the streets of the then newly formed Fitzgerald. She had worked extremely hard and had dedicated herself to becoming one of the people Johnny Doe depended on, and she had become his extension in the public face of his life.

Antonio Fernandez Carriedo. He was another war orphan, and Nat could see the scars in his eyes more clearly than she could in Gilbert's. He was another who showed staunch loyalty to Johnny Doe, having been given a name and a meaning for existence from the man.

And as she observed them, they observed her. She wore a large black coat, but it was not of leather. Her braid fell over her shoulder and hung down. Wisps of golden white locks framed her face, which was bleeding at places, the wounds muddy, her eyes dull with pain. But those brilliant and peculiar blue eyes had a quality which they all found foreign, alien, like a concept they had never experienced.

"What is that?" Tony asked, and all of them looked in the direction of his finger, at the mass wrapped in black.

"Something you should stay away from," she said, walking towards the wall opposite the doors. She slid down, her eyes on them. "I apologise for this treatment. I need to ask you a few questions, and you are free to leave after that."

Her speech was accented, and she enunciated each word clearly. All of them were drawn to her by some mysterious force, and even though they wanted to leave from the back of the van that very second, they couldn't stop staring at her.

The van swerved sharply, and all of them fell to the side. The wrapped mass rolled, hitting the side of the van, and rolled back. The black wrap fell off, revealing what was underneath.

Correction: _who_ was underneath. And by the look on their faces, Natalia was happy they'd all fallen before – the shock on their faces, the absolute heart-stopping disbelief would've definitely brought them to their knees.

But she couldn't watch the three of them staring at the dead body of Alfred Jones Sr. – she had work to do.

"Whatever you do, _do not_ say his name out loud," she whispered, and crawled to the body on her hands and knees. She sat next to the body, and turned to the three of them, shocked when she saw the tears flowing freely from Elizabeta's eyes. Even though the two men weren't crying, their eyes were filled with harrowing pain and sorrow.

Did they really love this demon so much?

Nat ignored the sorrow that she felt from them, the guilt that cut in deeper than all the wounds she had on her body, and turned the body over to its stomach. She pulled away the black sheet that covered the back, revealing his charred leather jacket, the burnt cloth framing an elaborate, magnificent purple lotus.

"Do you recognise"—the blaring of the traffic horns cut her off. With a grimace, she said loudly, "Do you recognise this?"

Eliza stopped crying, Antonio frowned, and Gilbert inched forward towards Nat. Frederick turned away from the wheel, and saw the tattoo. And he recognised.

"Hey, that's Johnny Doe!"

Nat quickly jumped away from the body, which began shaking and seizing violently. "You _vyradak_! Stop the car, now!"

"I'm on the highway – I can't" –

The body continued to shake and shudder violently. Nat pulled out a chain, at the end of which was a wheel with spokes, and began reciting incantations. But whatever she wanted to stop using those incantations wasn't going to be stopped.

Fred pulled out of the highway, and tried to go to the side – tried, because he realised that his actions were no longer in his control.

"I – I can't stop!" he cried out, but before any of them could react, his arms rolled the wheel to one side, and the van swerved violently. All of them were thrown to the side, and the car sped off in the direction they had come from.

Nat ignored the throbbing in her arm, which had broken her fall, and rose as quickly as she could, crawling to the body as the van sped dangerously. She drew on her memory, reciting every incantation she knew to bind the demon, but the demon could no longer be controlled – part of it was in the lifeless body, and the other was controlling Fred, sending the car hurtling in the direction where the body had been killed.

Nat cut off in the middle. "Stop him from driving back!"

Gilbert and Eliza just stared at her, shocked, but Antonio quickly jumped over to the front, and began wrestling with the partially possessed Fred for the wheel. The van tipped and swerved, and Nat had to wait until the end of a sutram to yell Gilbert and Eliza into action and get them to hold the body down.

But as they drew closer to the burning remains of the fair, Nat's powers grew weaker; rather, the demonic prowess of the spirit grew stronger. Fred began losing more and more of his self-control, and Nat could see his eyes slowly glazing over in the rearview mirror. And while Nat's incantations had previously subdued the struggling spirit within the body, they were proving ineffective now, and the seizing had started again.

"Get him off the wheel before he is completely possessed!" Nat yelled out, turning her gaze from Gilbert and Elizabeta struggling with the body to Antonio.

Gilbert raised his eyes off the body, and Nat's bag, which had fallen to the side, caught his eye. On and impulse, he let go of the body, scooped up the bag and swung it against the back of Fred's head, knocking him out cold.

Antonio quickly grabbed the wheel; Eliza couldn't hold down the body on her own, and it shook her off as soon as Gilbert got up. Nat turned to Gilbert. "Give me my bag!" she called out, and quickly caught it. "Get us moving in the opposite direction!" Nat ordered Antonio, and pulled out a gun with red trims. She turned to Elizabeta.

"You and the other man – go and stand with this in that corner. Both of you hold onto it." As she spoke, she yanked the handle of the gun, which rose until it was aligned with the barrel, and clicked into place. She handed it to Eliza. "Pull the trigger when I say so, and aim at the body," she said, and grabbed Eliza, holding her in place as the car swerved.

Antonio spun the car around, trying to control the steering wheel over the unconscious Fred. But the demon was intelligent enough to sense its freedom slipping away, and powerful enough to try and stop it. It completely retracted from Fred and occupied Doe. It mustered up the last of its powers to give itself one last chance to freedom, to escape from the binds Nat had tied it in.

Nat knew this, had anticipated it. She willed her mind to work faster than ever, and as the body rose, she stepped back, getting on her feet slowly.

"_Santa Maria,_" Antonio whispered, and Eliza had the sense to tell him to concentrate on the road.

Nat chanted slowly but firmly, her tone steady even as the van moved over bumps and braked suddenly. The strength of the incantations damped down the effect of the demon, and being chained to a dead host didn't help it to give Nat a full dose of its power and strength.

"Get out of the body, _vyradak_," Nat taunted, suddenly cutting off in her incantations. "Or are you too weak to break _ablihacyi, _the bonds I've tied you with?"

The body began to heat up, and in its dead state, it couldn't stop the cells on the surface from singing off, attaining a dull red glow. And the more Nat taunted, the more the body burnt.

"In fact, I don't even have to try and stop you – you're so weak."

The body was burning now, and Nat needed him to retaliate before its anger burnt the vessel she'd bound it to. She didn't have to wait for long – the dull red glow concentrated to one region at his chest, and the energy possessed by the demon shot right towards her.

Nat pulled out a jar and drew a symbol on her chest with vermilion, nullifying the negative energy of the demon. She lunged at the body, and ignoring the acute heat at her fingertips, she drew a mirror image of the symbol on the body's chest, on the concentrated red glow, the point at which the demon was bound to the body.

The body stopped glowing and burning, and collapsed, the surface of the skin charred and smoking. Nat moved back, drained, her wounds aching more painfully than before, and her fingers were burnt now. She turned to Eliza. "What's his name?"

"Antonio."

"Tell him to drive to the address in that _idyjot_ – Frederick's pocket, and to get there fast." She winced at the increasing pain starting from her chest.

Gilbert frowned, and sat down, while Eliza laid the transformed gun next to Nat. "What just happened? What did you do?"

Nat look at him, wincing through the pain. "I bound the demon in that body, and the demon's energy in my body."

"Is that…dangerous?" Eliza ventured.

Nat laughed, but it wasn't a near joyous one, and even Antonio in the front winced. "_Dy._ It is dangerous. The longer I keep this energy in my body, the more it will damage me. And then I'll be burnt, like that block of wood there," she said, pointing at Johnny Doe. The pain was getting worse, and wasn't to be ignored. "After that, the energy will go back to that body, and burn it, until there's nothing left of it. And that's when you need to worry."

Gilbert didn't like the half smile on Nat's lips. "Why?"

"Because, _vas u niarvedanńi durań_, the demon will not hesitate to possess you. And _that_ will be fun, won't it?"

* * *

**A/T: Well, it's been a year, almost, since I was here. I'd wanted to continue this almost immediately after the first chapter, but the time wasn't right. I know that waiting for your life to get less fucked up is like waiting for the sun to rise in the west, but...choices are choices. **

**I figured I'd do everyone a favour by keeping Author Thoughts in the end. Not that anyone complained with MFN (Check out My Friend Natalia if you haven't), but I found it a pace breaker personally while reading it. So, whoever wants to skip A/Ts, you can. There will be a glossary/appendix of sorts before the A/T, which will explain certain meanings or phrases, so make sure to go through that.**

**What a year it's been.**

**It's good to be back.**

**Aaaand I'm back in Manipal, the place where this story was conceived. Good to be back.**

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**R. K. Iris.**


	3. Facing the Demon

**Disclaimer : Don't own Hetalia**

* * *

Chapter 3

Elizabeta, Gilbert and Antonio watched as Natalia performed the last rites of the body. They had arrived at this isolated shed hours ago, and their curiosity prevented them from leaving, even though the doors were unguarded and Natalia was occupied with the ritual.

"What is going on?" Gilbert whispered.

Eliza was sitting on the floor, watching Natalia. Natalia was sitting on the ground, the body laid out in front of her. She was surrounded by an assortment of items – rice, grass, water, vermillion, different kinds of seeds, leaves and other things Eliza couldn't name.

"I don't know," she said to Gilbert sitting next to her, idly rubbing the bandage on her wrist. The priestess had dressed all their wounds, laid the driver and worked on his wounds, and had sat down for the ritual.

Antonio walked up to them, and handed them bottles of chilled orange juice. "It looks like a burial ritual," he said, sitting down next to Gilbert. "I remember _nana_ doing something of the sort for my uncle when he passed away."

The other two murmured their thanks, and watched the priestess. She was sitting motionless now, her fingers interlaced from the back, head bowed.

* * *

"_Maci žryca._"

"A demon who speaks my tongue. How strange."

"I speak the language you think. I know of no language.

"You are very strong, demon. What is your name?"

"It is of no consequence. You, too, are strong, which is why I tell you this. The contract is not between I and the body. My contract is between I and the mind of this entity. Killing the body isn't going to liberate me. Fulfilling the contract will."

"What is the contract?"

"I cannot say. To break the contract, I must destroy those who drew anger in his heart, and save those who drew guilt in his heart, his _moda _being the witness."

"You cannot destroy the site of summon?"

"He summoned me with his _moda_, and he has bound me to it."

"But his body is dead. There is nothing for me to bind his _moda_ to. He cannot reside in me."

"He prepared for this."

"He wouldn't have known that I would kill his body."

"That I do not know. He has imprinted me in one of his spawns. Direct me to the spawn and bind me to it" –

"Binding two entities in one person is dangerous."

"One will escape, and one will stay."

"Which one?"

"I do not know. That is all I can say. Goodbye, _maci žryca_."

* * *

Natalia slowly grew conscious of the physical reality around her. Her senses began to work. She kept her eyes closed.

As long as the contact between her and the demon existed, the demon could talk to her. Technically, she could also talk to the demon, but she didn't know how to. She didn't have the time, either – right then, she was the person in danger as she had two entities bound to her.

Her respect for Alfred Jones Sr. grew. He had managed to do the near impossible – he had managed to focus the image of a summoning chakra in his mind, without any distractions for long enough to be able to summon a demon. A demon of this level would take a longer time to be summoned, and the idea of a human mind being able to focus on one object for that long without any distractions internally and externally was not only unthinkable, she was in awe. As a part of her training in the temple, she had to learn to concentrate on only one thing, so she knew the difficulty in the feat he had achieved.

She didn't have the time to be figuring out how the chat up the demon. Her body was going to start burning up like the body before her had, and she didn't want to wait until then.

She had to find this 'spawn' of his. She knew that Johnny Doe didn't find the need to be careful about whom, where and how many women he fathered children with. He had married once, but the woman had soon died, the reasons to which she didn't know. No one did.

Nat looked at the body before her. It was well on its way to decomposing. She had to find this 'spawn' before it began to rot, so that she could remove the identical vermillion marks on both their persons, thereby releasing the demon from her body.

She sighed softly to herself. She had been planning on letting the three of them go – in fact, she had left the doors open just so that they could leave. But she could sense their presence, so they were still there, for whatever reasons. She was glad, because it made her job easier.

She had never meant for them to be frightened or wounded. The priest of the sister House – Frederick – had taken his job a bit too seriously and had added his own brand of drama. She hadn't counted on more than half of the morning's incidences, and her life had taken a peculiar turn than what she had planned or expected.

Her faith compelled her to prepare for everything. She wished she'd obeyed.

She rose, and the three looked at her. "What's going on?"

"I could tell you, but you might not comprehend. Tell me," she asked before any one of them looked like they would protest, "how many of his children was he still talking to?"

"Is that necessary?" Gilbert asked while the other two gaped at her.

"Very."

He mused, and all of them thought. "There's his legitimate son, Mathew. He's the heir," Gilbert said.

"Johnny knew all his children, took care of all of them," Antonio added. "But he is – was- closest to Matt."

Matt. Natalia thought awhile; she didn't have time to discount anything. She looked at the three of them. She didn't have any right to keep the three of them with her, but… "I need your help. I will return you to your homes safely by this evening," she said, and pulled on her coat. The familiar clothing gave her comfort.

"There's some food in the back," Nat said, gathering her things. "Take how much you need, and come to the van." Nat walked to Frederick. He looked better. He would probably be up by dusk, and she'd return him back to his monastery by then, with apologies. She'd never…she sighed. She didn't have time to be doing this.

She had to keep herself from burning up like a log of wood.

* * *

"You have a very…interesting place here."

The man before her smiled sweetly. "Why do you say that?"

She tried to translate her native tongue into their language, but it was too much work, and she was in too much pain. So she just shook her head, and sipped on the cool apple cider that was in her hand.

Mathew Williams Jones, supplier of said cider, didn't take any offence, and continued to drink his cider. "Is it because I've got five bathrooms?" he asked.

She smiled wanly. It had more to do with the fact that he took her in and gave her food and allowed her to clean herself up, even after being told she had killed his father. But she didn't say anything, and just shrugged the best she could. Everything hurt so badly, but she couldn't even bother to pinpoint what hurt more than what. She was drowning in her pain, drowning in her sofa, and drowning in the glass of cider.

Oh, God, her brain wasn't functioning properly anymore.

"If you need to get some sleep, I've got plenty of room," Mathew offered. "Besides, Mr Antonio and Mr Gilbert and Miss Eliza are all planning to stay here anyways. You need them for a while longer, right?"

She nodded. "I need sleep, Mr Williams," Nat agreed, "but I'm afraid I won't wake up to face tomorrow."

He chuckled, and Nat managed a small frown. Her brain circuits were fried, but she knew she wasn't funny. He looked up, and saw her frown. "Oh. That's what my dad says – said," he quietly added, and Nat knew which part of her hurt the most. Her heart.

"Can you tell me…why?"

"Why did I kill him?" Nat asked, and he nodded. Nat groped her way out of the sofa, and got off to sit down on the ground. She needed something to anchor her, not something she was going to drown in, if she was going to tell him something of importance.

Besides, she felt she owed him that much.

"I – or my House, the House of Wheels, we belong to a larger faith. We have various other Houses, temples, monasteries which practice differently, but we all believe in a group of interconnected philosophies, and that keeps us together.

"Two of our sister Houses – one of them practices in your country, and another one lies outside – noticed that there was something stopping people from…dying."

Matt frowned at this, and Nat continued. "I'm not explaining this very well. People were physically dying, _dy,_ but the problem was their bodies managed to keep their spirits trapped within the body. That is not natural. The spirit leaves the body, and, in our belief, is reborn, according to its past actions. Even if you do not believe that, there has been a disturbance in the flow of energy within the living and the non-living. This was first observed by the House within the country, and then by one outside. And then we were called.

"One priest from each House looked at the matter. They all realised that one large force was the reason for the disturbance. They thought it was your father, but it was the demon within your father."

"You killed my father to stop this disturbance?" Matt asked.

He could believe just that much, if it let him sleep peacefully. "_Dy._"

"But it hasn't stopped anything."

"_Niama._"

"What will happen, if you don't stop this?"

"It will disrupt the order of nature." That much she was sure of. "Other than you, was he close to any of his other children?"

She looked at his grief-laden face and sleep-filled eyes. "I am disturbing you." When he shook his head, she got up. Somehow. "I shall return tomorrow. There is still some work that needs to be done. Mr Williams, I…am sorry for your loss."

He lowered his head, and sat still for a moment. Then he got up, and looked her in the eye. "I don't want to believe anything you have told me, Priestess. I wish I didn't. But I know my father, and I know his…ways. If I believed in your faith, or in mine, I would believe he would have made a contract with the Devil himself. And the three people he needed the most wouldn't lie to me, either. I believe you, Priestess. I will help you. And I hope you do manage to stop whatever it is my father started."

_For your sake_. Nat heard those words loud and clear. She nodded. She didn't know what to say, so she turned around, and walked towards the door. She'd come back tomorrow, a little more fresh, and hopefully a little less in pain, and she'd find her answers then.

But, for more reasons than Mathew Williams Jones could know, she needed to stop whatever his father had started.

* * *

Nat waited outside the door. Her body generally hurt less, she'd gotten ample rest at the House of Fire, after arriving with a much better Frederick and profusely apologising to the Head Priest. The symbol she'd made on her chest with vermilion was burnt into her skin due to the energy of the demon she'd trapped, and she had to make a similar symbol on the spawn of Johnny Doe, whoever he was.

So she decided to go and visit Mathew Williams Jones again.

Williams, she had found out, was his mother's maiden name. She hadn't been able to find out much between leaving his house a little after midnight and reaching his office in the afternoon, waiting outside his door, but whatever she knew of the man was completely different from what she knew of his dead father.

A dead father whose body was currently wrapped in the shimmering black cloth crafted with a special thread, and strapped to her back. She was grateful for the ancient monks who'd designed the thread and cloth, because she wouldn't be agreeable to carrying a dead body otherwise. It didn't stink, and it looked like an oversized bag on her back.

The door opened, and Nat blinked. The man was…"You look different."

He smiled at her, and Nat felt something jump and open up a vacuum in her. "Come on it," he said. She moved into the room, and warily looked around. It was a very modern looking office, with glass and metal finishes. "I don't think you got a good look of me last night. It was late, and you were in terrible pain," he said, coming from behind her. She turned, gave him way so that he could walk further into the room. "How are you now?"

She shrugged. Mathew Jones was…_wonderful_ to look at. His hair fell in honey-golden waves, curled at the edges, and his calm blue eyes twinkled with a quiet joy she recognised. But the rest of him caught her attention just as much, even made her gape. He was suited and booted, but she had little trouble imagining what he might look like underneath. He was lean and hadn't a stitch of lethargy on him. Although she knew he was not very noticeable, she could make out through his gait that he owned the place, and knew it.

But the lack of sleep showed under his eyes, and she could see the pain in his gaze. He probably was very good at hiding behind his smiling demeanour, but Nat had spent a lifetime with people who survived by hiding their true emotions. She was one such person herself.

She considered feeling guilty for having slept like a log, but she knew she wasn't going to get any sleep for some time to come, and she needed all the rest she could get. Guilt and whatever other emotions she would have to feel could wait until she'd figured out what the hell she was going to do with the demon on her hands.

She unlatched the belt with which she'd held the body on her bag, and set the bag on the ground. "That's the body of Doe." She saw the pain that shot across his face, and she wished she had the time. "I've managed to seal the demon within him. The demon is too powerful, so I manage to seal its energy within me. I have performed your father's last rites, so that he may leave this body peacefully, once the demon has been sealed inside the 'spawn'."

"I didn't quite understand that, I'm afraid."

"The sealing part or…?"

"The spawn part," he said.

"Oh. From what I know, Doe imprinted one of his children. Part of the demon rests within this child. Whether he wishes to summon the demon from this child, or the power was too much for him to handle, or he wishes to use the child as a vessel, I do not know. But if I need to fulfil my mission, I must find this child and transfer the demon within him or her. Otherwise, I will burn to death, and the demon will be let loose in this Realm once I die and its bindings have been removed."

Mathew kept blinking at her, so she let it sink it. She looked at him, then pulled herself back and reminded herself of what she had come here for. She went over to the door, locked it, and walked back to Mathew, who had seemingly digested it all.

"Am I this spawn?" he asked.

She shook her head. "I do not know. I will scribe the symbol, which is on the body. If you are the spawn, then the demon will go into your body."

He frowned. God, he looked cute when he frowned, too. She frowned. She needed to stop gushing like a teenager. "Is that…harmful?"

She couldn't be sure, but… "If you have been imprinted, it will not be. If you are not the spawn, then the symbol will have no meaning."

He nodded, and his eyes fell on the figure wrapped in black on the floor. His eyes softened in both fondness and pain. "Can I…?"

She nodded, but he wasn't looking at her. She got on her knees, and unravelled the cloth. Quite a bit of her morning had gone in cleaning and dressing the body, and she was glad that Mathew could see his father without the charred skin and burnt clothes, that his last image was of a man looking peaceful.

And even as she herself gazed at the body, she felt that Johnny Doe looked…free. He had lived a long life, she knew, longer than most others. Maybe, once she found this spawn, he would be free. She looked up at Mathew. His eyes were tearful, his lips drawn to a tight line.

She supressed a sigh. She couldn't handle these emotions very well. She got up, stood before him. "Mr Mathew?"

"Matt," he corrected her, tearing his eyes off the body and looking at her.

"Matt. I need you to remove your shirt."

Well, that was one way of handling tears –shock the pants right off people. Or shirt, as was in this case. Matt's eyes opened wide, and he just stared at her for a very long time. Nat could feel her cheeks heating up, and she hoped it wasn't showing.

"I need to draw the symbol. Since it's been scribed on his chest and on mine…." She trailed off.

He kept staring at her until something flashed to him. "Does that mean…?"

When she nodded, he blushed a bright red. She couldn't help but smile – there was something very endearing about this man, and she really wished she hadn't met him under these circumstances.

Well, one of them had to start. She began unbuttoning her jacket, aware of his eyes on her. She unbuttoned till her waist, and tied it up there, revealing her white shirt underneath. Her fingers found the collar button, and she raised her eyes to Matt.

"What?" she managed nonchalantly, and Matt's blush grew deeper. He began furiously unbuttoning his shirt with all the concentration he could muster between his brows, and suppressing a chuckle, Nat began unbuttoning her shirt.

She unbuttoned it halfway to her stomach, and pulled the halves aside. Looking down on her revealed middle, she realised the symbol was underneath the bindings wrapped around her breasts. Sighing in exasperation, she reached in, under her shirt, and undid the catches that held the bindings in place.

"Couldn't you wear a…"

"A bra?" Nat asked, and looked up. _Sviataja karova_, she gulped. _Holy cow._

She'd forgotten to tell him to only unbutton his shirt halfway down, and he had unbuttoned it all the way down. He was lean, and even though his muscles didn't bulge frown underneath his flat stomach and powerful chest, she could see them bunch and roll underneath his taut skin as he shifted from foot to foot. He had a matting of golden hair on his chest that continued in a line down his stomach, and…

She grew aware of her own partial nudity, now that the bindings had come off and only the canvas cotton of her shirt covered her bare breasts. And the more she looked at him, the more she realised his growing awareness of her as well.

_O Boža._

"Now," she began. She wasn't going to stutter like a little girl caught staring at the boy she liked. Nat rummaged her coat pocket, took out the case of vermilion. She walked up to Matt, staring at his chest. She knew he was blushing; she knew there was no point in denying the same for her. She stood before him. She opened the case of vermilion, and tilted some of the powder into the lid. She held out the case to Matt, who took it from her, and took out a vial of water from another pocket in her coat. She made a paste out of the two, and raised her fingers to Matt's chest.

Closing her eyes, she recited the incantation, the same one that she had while marking herself and Johnny Doe, and marked Matt.

She kept her eyes closed, trying to sense if anything changed within the corpse lying behind her, if the pain her chest reduced.

Nothing.

Nat felt tears well up behind her closed eyes, which quickly dissipated. If she was going to die and a demon was going to ravage the dimension, there was nothing anyone could do to stop it. She would die a painful death if so, and she had to accept it.

And she didn't have a problem with that.

She'd faced pain before.

She'd faced death before.

She'd faced her own death before, many times.

But she wasn't going to die in vain.

She opened her eyes, and looked at him. "You're not the 'spawn' the demon was talking about."

She dropped the vial in its pocket, took the case from Matt, closed it and dropped it in its pocket. She looked up at him, her previous thoughts erased. "I'm sorry for wasting your time."

"Does this mean that…?"

She didn't need him to complete the sentence. "Most probably going to die, yes. Unless there is some child of his that no one knows about."

She back away from him, and turned around, slipping her shirt off her arms. She straightened the bounds which had bunched around her waist, and began binding her breasts with it. She did have more comfortable ways of keeping her breasts safe from the exertion of fighting or heavy duty work, but the special cloth that the bindings were made of enhanced her ability to judge the flow of life energy from one form to another. The same cloth made her coat, her trousers and her shirt. It was made to keep her connected to the reservoir of energy that thrummed in the earth.

And ever since she'd stepped into Johnny Doe's land, she could sense another energy flowing underneath them, intermixing with the energy reservoir, contaminating it.

She tucked in the ends of her bindings, which had been secured with steel clips, and pulled her shirt back on. "You can wipe that off"—

"There is one more person."

She felt her insides grind, and containing her rushing emotions, she turned around. "What do you mean?"

"I'm my father's heir, yes. But my father has sired other children, too."

She looked at Matt, who had wiped the mark off his chest and was buttoning his shirt. Her need to stay alive pushed back any feelings the man before her engendered within her.

"They're all across the country. Although my father doesn't involve himself in their lives, he does what he can to provide for them," Matt said, and Nat didn't want to correct his use of tense. "But there is one brother of mine he speaks to, more than me himself." Matt chuckled as he slid his glasses up his nose, but the sound wasn't a pleasant one. He read the look on her face, and smiled pleasantly. "You won't have to travel far – he's within the city."

Nat frowned. "I have not heard of this son you talk about."

Matt nodded, his curls swaying softly. "Not many know about him. Most people think he died as a teenager. I'll ask Gilbert to take you there," he said, and began walking to the door. At the door, he paused and turned around. "Priestess, when can I perform my father's last rites?"

"As soon as I find this 'spawn'."

He gave her a smile, but his eyes were so full of pain she couldn't help herself. "I'm sorry, Mathew."

His smile wavered, and she saw the pleasant aura around him dimming. "I'll forgive you, priestess. Someday."

Icy fingers gripped her heart tightly, and squeezed until the agony surpassed the pain caused by the demon. All she could do was nod, as Matt left the room, and closed the door behind him.

Maybe, someday, she could explain everything to him. She didn't understand why, but she didn't want to see him in pain. He seemed like such a nice person, and that coming from Nat was very rare. She liked him, she realised.

Matt reminded her of another person she knew, the reason why she was there.

And if not for herself, she had to stay alive for him.

* * *

"We're here."

Nat's eyes had finally adjusted to the darkness in the underground tunnel, which widened out just as Gilbert spoke. She frowned. This place was giving her the chills, apart from being totally dark. Surprising thing was, it was quite airy, for a dungeon.

She wanted to smile, and would have, if her chest wasn't burning now. The most powerful man in the world had a dungeon below the castle from where he ruled.

Gilbert turned around. "You will have to go down this corridor. He's in the last cell."

Natalia looked in the direction where he was pointing. It wasn't too far off, but when she looked back at Gilbert, he was shaking like a leaf. "Any warning you would like to give me?" she asked wryly, surprised at still retaining her humour.

"That man is dangerous. Don't get too close to him," Gilbert said.

"You are not coming with me?"

Gilbert turned towards her. "Priestess, I've got you here only because of Mathew's request. The awesome me would never come here otherwise, or help you."

Nat sighed softly to herself. She was beginning to wonder why any of them were being so helpful, and now she knew. "Wait here, then, if you must," she said. She hefted Johnny Doe's body back in place, and made her way down the corridor.

The corridor was wide, and the cells were large. She could sense a strange life energy at the end of the corridor. Light streamed in from a window placed high on the wall of all the cells to her left. As she walked, she could hear movement, and breathing. But the dungeons, Gilbert's fear and the strange energy couldn't prepare her for what she saw.

It was very rare that something managed to shock Natalia, but from all that she'd seen in her life, this easily took the cake. Her grip on the corpse over her shoulder slackened, and she had to place it down before she dropped it in shock.

A man was in the room, bound to the wall by thick chains. Chains encircled his entire body, almost lovingly. His arms were held apart, high above his head. A chain ran around his neck, holding his head back to the wall. His legs were bound, and so was his body, the three-finger thick links cutting into his flesh at places. Blood pooled at some places, and was dry at others. Light streamed from behind him, setting a dark shadow to his face. His head hung down, his hair falling over his eyes.

But, somehow, he didn't seem to be trapped. He wasn't straining or struggling – he just sat there, legs stretched, arms above his head, head hanging down, surrounding and entangled in a never-ending frenzy of chains.

_A spider in the web of metal._

His aura was…terrifying. He wasn't even looking at her – his even, steady breathing was the only indication of life. The energy around him was miasmic, making her blood chill and slow down, her hackles raise, her entire body tense and ready to flee.

She didn't even have to put the symbol on him to know he was the spawn the demon spoke about.

Her mind raced, trying to recollect information through the haze of fear that had enveloped it. His aura could partly be because of the part of the demon trapped within him.

That explained the chains. The demon within him, no matter how small, would still give him supernatural strength of some sort. And by the look of how he was bound, he was strong, and his aura was enough to tell her that the demon part within him was more than just '_small_'.

"Like what you see?"

Her heart stopped, and her stomach was replaced by an endless vacuum. His voice wasn't loud, but it carried on that terrifying energy, filling up the entire space around him. Nat felt fear spring out within her, flowing through her veins, dragging her blood to flow faster. His voice was hoarse, but his words were well paced. Nat wanted to run.

_O Boža,_ she wanted to flee.

"I don't really have many visitors. But it's the first time a lady has ever come to see me here."

Her hand slipped into her pockets, and found the key of the cell. But she didn't want to go in there anymore.

"And, by the looks of it, I've got a priestess here. What happened, priestess? Cat got your tongue?"

He looked at her, his blue eyes shining brilliantly, cutting right through her. His grin was languorous, but it carried as much humour as a cat's grin on sighting a mouse. Those blue eyes mocked her, laughed at her, dared her to come closer.

Nat's fear dissipated. She wasn't going to back down from any challenge.

Her fingers gripped the key hard. Her mind was screaming at her, telling her to get away from this…this _monster_. But she wasn't going to listen – she'd faced too many monsters in her life to be scared of another one.

She took out the key, and turned the lock.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"You're not me," she gritted, and swung the door opened.

He chuckled, a little amused this time. "Oh, so you do know how to speak." He raised his head; the chains around his neck tightened. Nat winced; it was painful just looking at him.

"Don't come any further, priestess, if you value your life," he said, and gave her an easy grin. "These chains might not be easy to break, but that doesn't mean they can hold me to this wall. You're better off leaving."

Nat looked at him square in the eye. "I'm dead either way, so I'll make the choice on how it happens."

He didn't look the least bit surprised. "I warned you. But tell me, Priestess, what brings you here? That, too, with the corpse of my father?"

She froze, and stood, immobile, as he got up. The chains rankled, the links cutting into his flesh. He didn't seem to feel the pain, feel the blood streaming down his body, his arms, his legs. "You must have killed him," he continued. Even through her fear, she noticed that while he could move the rest of his body, his arms were perfectly still.

"Do tell me, how did you kill him?"

"You just don't stop talking, do you, Jones?"

He blinked, surprised. "You know my name?"

"Alfred Jones Jr. I wouldn't come in here without knowing your name," she said. The pain in her chest was receding, further confirming her hunch. He must be the spawn.

Even though her pain was slowly dying out, her body was still feeling the effect of hosting a demon. Her body was being burnt inside out, starting from her stomach. It was becoming painful to breathe, to speak. She had to do this quickly.

She studied the chains as he spoke. She could easily get caught in them, and she didn't want to think of what would happen to her if he got his hands on her. She took out the vermilion case from her coat pocket, and began undoing the stays that held the coat.

"Did they tell you why I'm here?"

"I couldn't care less."

"You're in my cell. And, by the looks of it, you're planning to approach me," he said. "Let me stop you right there, Priestess. Once you enter this circle here, I can get my hands on you. And not even your God can prevent anything I would do then."

Nat looked at the ground, found the white marking of the circle. She frowned. It was closer to where she was standing, at least a good three feet away from him. Having being bound so tightly to the wall, how could he possibly close the gap?

She looked back at the chains, and back at him. She didn't doubt what he said – she had a feeling he was enjoying telling her the truth, just to make her scared and back away, without even knowing her objective. Well, he picked the wrong person to scare.

Natalia opened the case, and looked at the lid. The vermilion there was still wet. She looked back at him. There was no chance that he'd stand still and let her apply vermilion the way Matt did. She closed the case, and unbuttoned the top of her shirt, until the beginning of her stomach. She untucked her shirt, and slipped her hand from behind to find the metal buckles.

"What are you doing?" he asked. He wasn't smiling at her anymore; his confusion was clear on his face.

She released the metal catch, and let the bindings around her breasts unravel. She needed the mark she'd made to be revealed, and the cloth would hinder the passage of energy from her to him. The bindings fell to the ground, and she suppressed the urge to rub her breasts after having them confined.

If she made it back to the monastery, she was going to switch to a bra made of the same cloth.

"I can see your breasts, priestess. Is that what they're teaching you in your temples nowadays?" he taunted. She gritted her teeth, but didn't grace him with a reply. She got out the case, opened it, and applied the wet vermilion to all her fingers. She took a deep breath, and looked up at him.

"I'm only going to tell you this once. Stand still."

"Impressive, priestess. Have you learnt what comes after undressing, too?" he leered at her.

_Vyradak_, she cursed mentally. There was only one way to do this.

She moved towards him, but just before she stepped over the white mark, he lunged at her. She couldn't move. He was right in front of her, the chains straining against him, his breath falling on her face. The chains seemed to scream out in pain, even though he was bleeding. He had covered the distance till the mark in the blink of an eye, his arms drawn to his sides, his torso straining silently against the pressure of the chains. The chain around his neck had snapped and fallen.

He raised his head, his eyes burning into hers. "I warned you, didn't I, priestess?"

"I told you to hold still."

"Looks like we don't like to listen to each other, huh, priestess?" he whispered. "Now, be a good girl, and get away from me."

Nat blinked. He wasn't completely under the control of the demon.

"I can help you," she whispered.

"I can't," he whispered back. "If you get in here, I'll kill you."

She had to do something.

She had to think of something fast.

She couldn't—

She couldn't—

"Look at me," she said.

He looked up.

She pushed him back with the back of her fist, grabbed the back of his head with one hand, and pressed her lips to his mouth.

She could hear the chains swirling around her, digging into her skin, crushing her against him. She could feel his mouth opening up under hers, and kissing her back.

Her fingertips found his scalp, and slowly created the symbol. Slowly, because she couldn't think anymore.

His mouth didn't rank, like she'd thought it would. His mouth tasted oddly clean. And he didn't smell as bad as she'd thought he would, either. He didn't smell bad at all.

He raised one hand to her cheek, the chain around his palm pressing into her flesh. He sucked on her mouth, then changed angles and pushed his tongue inside. His other hand cupped her breast through the cloth of her shirt, and _Boh_, heat was raging through her.

It didn't make any sense. But she knew he couldn't kill her like this.

She didn't expect to enjoy it. And she would never admit it to herself.

The chains tightened, drawing her closer to him. His hand left her breast, and she was crushed against his chest. Their legs entangled; she felt him against her crotch, and heat shot through her, faster, engulfing her senses and throbbing alongside need.

Feeling herself slipping, she bit down on his lip, and quickly finished drawing the symbol on the back of his head in a few strokes.

She drew her head back, and froze.

_I am coming._

Gilbert looked worriedly towards the exit, then towards the cell. The priestess had been away for almost seven minutes now. He thought he heard voices, and then the clinking of chains. That demon-man must've been trying to kill her, just like he'd killed so many others.

He didn't know the story of Alfred Jones Jr., but Matt had once told him that they were twins, and that while Matt had been left behind with their mother, Alfred had been taken away by their father when they were just three years old. When their mother died, Matt had joined Alfred Jones Sr., who had then become the most powerful man in the world. Mathew and Alfred began training under their father, but, one day Alfred Jr. had been brought here, and chained to the wall like a dog.

People said that Alfred had ravaged an entire town overnight, killing all of its inhabitants. His father was said to have personally gone there and dragged Alfred into these cells, and locked him in. The world thought that Alfred Jones Jr., demon personified, had been shot dead by a firing squad. Truth was, he had been hidden in these dungeons the entire time.

Those who came to see him in the beginning never returned to see him again, and only his father was brave enough to see him. Matt was the only one prevented from seeing his brother. Johnny Doe saw him regularly, and spent long hours with his son, with either Gilbert or Antonio on call, in case Alfred went out of hand. The two of them, and Matt were the only ones who knew of Alfred Jr.'s existence.

And, now, the priestess. Gilbert frowned. Honestly, he didn't want to help her. She killed the one man who had made his life seem meaningful, who had saved him from despair and anguish. But after all that that had happened, he didn't know what to believe anymore. She had her reasons for killing Doe. Gilbert had a strong sense of right and wrong, and he was beginning to feel that whatever the priestess's reasons were, they were beginning to seem more and more…right. And he didn't like that one little bit.

The painful screams threw him right off his train of thought. He turned to run towards the cell, but halted as the voices grew clearer. The priestess was screaming…and so was a man?

He shook his head, ran down the corridor. "Priestess!" He reached the cell, and froze.

A pulsating glow enveloped both of them. The chains that bound the two of the crumbled to dust, and he could see them holding onto each other. And their screams…

It made his blood run cold.

His foot pressed against something, and he looked down. A black cloth was wrapped around something that seemed to be glowing just like the two in the cell. Gilbert bent down and pushed away the black cloth, to see the body of Johnny Doe glowing in tandem with Alfred and Natalia. Their screams grew louder and louder, finally drowned out by an unnatural, demonic roar that seemed to emanate from both of them.

"What the…?" Gilbert managed to say before the light blinded him.

The heat that seemed to radiate from the cell was astonishing. Gilbert curled into a ball as the heat waves hit him again and again, their intensity reducing after each wave. Finally, the heat died down, and Gilbert dared to open his eyes.

For a few moments, he couldn't see. Everything seemed white. Finally, his eyes got adjusted to the darkness than swamped the dungeons again, and looked up.

He gasped.

The chains were gone.

He looked at the wall; the chains that remained were deformed and looked like clay moulds, due to the heat. Gilbert looked at his skin; it had turned pink, and was raw to touch. He looked back up. Alfred was propped up against the wall, holding onto Natalia, who had curled up against him. She lifted her head, and looked at Gilbert.

She opened her mouth to say something, but her voice was so feeble Gilbert had to strain to hear her, even though the dungeons were dead silent.

"Tell…Matt…he can…cremate his…father. I…I found the…spawn."

"What?" Gilbert gasped. He couldn't make head or tail of what she was saying. By the look of it, though, Alfred was unconscious, and she was clinging onto the last shreds of consciousness. Something suddenly spurred him to action – he sprung up, and began running towards the exit.

She'd said something about Matt. He'd get him down here, let him deal with it. But…

_What the hell is going on_?

* * *

**A/T: Hoooolidays! Well, I'll hopefully get to go back to my once-in-three-days uploading schedule, the way I used to two years back. (I'm still getting a bit over that). The chapters won't be coming out as soon as they're done, since I plan to be at least one chapter ahead of schedule, at least in the beginning. If there are any delays, do forgive me.**

**Well, this is clearly my favourite chapter so far. **

**If I'm going ooc, do forgive me. I won't compromise the story, so if the characters don't appeal to you at this stage, don't worry - it gets better. I'm just setting the stage right now, so it'll probably be ooc for some of you reading. So please bear with it for a while.**

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**R. K. Iris.**


	4. Hey, broski

**Disclaimer : Don't own Hetalia, or its characters. But you guys already know that, don't you?  
**

* * *

Chapter 4

"What are you going to do now?"

Nat looked up at Matt. "I will have to leave for my temple, along with Alfred. I will have to take the guidance of the Mother Priestess, and do as she says."

Matt couldn't believe the day's turn of events. He heard it first from Gilbert, and Natalya had just finished telling him what had transgressed. His brother, whom he had been forbidden to see, was in the other room, sleeping, and the woman who had killed his father was drinking tea and eating biscuits with him.

Gilbert had rushed into his office in the middle of a meeting, his red eyes wild, his skin burnt. Matt had rushed out, only to be led by Gilbert downstairs to the dungeon. Gilbert had talked incoherently, and Matt could only make out 'priestess', 'light', 'screaming' and 'chains' before he halted in front of his brother's cell whose bars were severely deformed, and the binding chains were out of shape. His brother was awake, sitting against the wall, holding the unconscious body of the priestess close to him.

"Who is this woman?" he had asked.

Hearing his brother's voice, after that incident of mass massacre, always made his heart stop. "She's a priestess."

"Did she kill dad?"

Matt nodded.

"She did all of us a favour, then," Alfred had said. He got up, lifting Natalya in his arms. "Both of us need rest. Especially this one."

Matt nodded. He would have offered to take Natalya from him, considering how wounded he was, but Alfred's tight grip on the priestess made him reconsider. "Come with me."

"W-Where are you taking him?" Gilbert asked.

"To my house."

And there they all were, sitting in Mathew's apartment, drinking tea. Gilbert had taken a few shots of whiskey, and then taken the entire day off. And after hearing what Natalya had to say, Matt wished he'd, too, taken a couple of shots of whiskey. Or vodka. Whichever was stronger.

"You're saying my brother might have done it under the influence of the demon?" Matt had asked her in the middle.

"That is very probable," she had replied. "His behaviour now on will confirm it."

Now, they sat in silence. Nat looked drained out – she was having trouble just raising her teacup to her lips. But the persistent pain in her eyes was not there anymore – it had reduced to a dull ache. He watched as she put her cup down, and leaned back into her chair, closing her eyes.

"Tired?" he asked.

"Very."

"Stay the night here. The temple is a bit far from here, and you don't look like you could travel right now. And I've got enough rooms."

"Sounds…like a plan."

Matt smiled. "I'll have dinner ready for you. You can have it whenever you wake up."

"What…are you…making?"

"Waffles with maple syrup and vanilla-cinnamon ice-cream."

"Sounds…delicious."

"And chicken soup."

"I…want to…eat…" And, just like that, she dozed off.

Matt smiled. He got up, gathered all the crockery, trying not to disturb Nat. But considering the slumber she was in, he didn't think he could disturb her even if he wanted to. He put all the dishes in the sink, then got out all the ingredients he needed to make dinner. The familiarity of the motions calmed him down, allowed him to think clearly.

She was going to take Alfred with her, back to her temple. He had to cremate his father's body, and officially take his father's office. He would have to appear publically, give speeches, accept condolences, even cry for his father. Plus, he'd have to make up a credible reason for his father's death.

But now, he didn't want to.

He didn't know what was going on, and it got on his nerves a little bit, knowing that outsiders seem to know more about what was happening right under his nose than he was. But, the more he thought about it, the more things made sense. Why he was left behind with mama. Why he was made the heir and not Alfred. Why he was forbidden to see Alfred after the incidents.

Mathew knew his brother too well, and his gaze didn't miss anything. Not only did his father know that, he used it well to his advantage.

He…he needed to get away from all this. He needed to figure out what the hell was going on. He needed to know who it was that he called his father.

Matt heard a loud crack, and looked down. He chuckled, and rubbed his face wearily. He's managed to break the chopping board while cutting vegetables.

He set the knife down, and rubbed his face with both hands. This was…he needed to think, to figure out what he had to do next.

He walked out of the kitchen, and saw Nat had curled up in the sofa, fast asleep. He chuckled, and walked over to her. Picking her up as gently as he could, he made his way to an unoccupied guest room, and laid her in bed. He spread the sheets over her, and left the room.

Maybe she could give him what he needed.

* * *

"You're awake, priestess?"

Nat didn't bother to look up from her meal. She continued to shovel food in her mouth, even as Alfred brought back a plate loaded with food with him, and sat down at the table before her. "My brother cooks well, doesn't he?" he said, but she was too preoccupied with eating as much as she could before she had to take her next breath.

Alfred watched her for a while, then chuckled. "Thank you." She raised her head to stare at him, but he started shovelling food into his face at a faster rate than Nat had been. Surprised, she looked down at her bowl. She needed more soup.

She got up, taking her empty vessels with her. She set her bowl next to the lidded vessel containing the heavenly ambrosia, and busied herself with cleaning her used cutlery. As she washed her plates, she felt the food settling into her stomach, giving her the feeling of fullness she had wanted. By the time she was done washing her vessels, she was feeling relatively full.

She went to the vessel containing soup, and filled her bowl with it. "Do you want some soup?" she called out to Alfred over the counter, loud enough for her voice to be carried till him.

He didn't raise his head, but held a thumbs-up in the air, signalling her to get the vessel with her. She carried her bowl in one hand, the vessel in the other, and made her way to the table. She set down the vessel before him, and sat back into her seat, planning to savour every drop of the soup she was planning to help herself to.

"I mphh know yphhh name."

Nat raised an eyebrow at the pig before her. "What?"

He swallowed. "I still don't know your name."

"Natalya Arlovskaya."

"Where are you from?"

"Senchessy."

Alfred frowned. "You're not from this country."

"That is correct." Nat continued to drink her soup. "You didn't tell me why you thanked me."

"You killed the old man. You freed me. They're reasons enough."

Nat looked at him, surprised. "You are thanking me for killing your father?"

Alfred nodded, and with a loud sigh of gratitude, sat back. "That was awesome."

Natalya continued to stare at him, not paying attention to his complement of Matt's food. "You are happy?"

He shrugged, and frowned a little. "Not happy. The old man did mean something to me. But I also know what he's done, what he did to me. It's not something I can forget."

Natalya studied the man before her. He'd cleaned up, and was wearing a vest and a pair of sweats. She could easily see why he was Matt's twin brother – they had the same facial structure, height and build, and the same blue of the eyes. Matt's eyes were calmer, thoughtful, while Alfred's eyes shined brilliantly. Both were blond, but Alfred's hair was a shade lighter, and it fell straight over his forehead, unlike Matt's soft curls.

"Can you tell me what is going on?"

Nat looked up at him. From where was she to tell him? "When your father died, I realised he'd made a contract with a demon. To prevent the demon from running loose, I had to bind the demon to myself. The demon told me to find the child who had parts of the demon bound to it. I found you, and from what I understand, the demon has left both of us, and your father's spirit rests in you."

Alfred blinked at her. "That makes no sense."

Nat sighed, rubbing her forehead. "I didn't think it would. When we reach Senchessy, there will be people who can explain it better to you."

"Woah, woah, woah. _We_?" he asked, raising his eyebrow.

Nat frowned, not quite understanding. "You will be coming with me to Senchessy."

"Hold it _right there_, lady," he said, leaning forward. "I'm not going anywhere with you. I barely know you!"

Nat stared at him, at the incredulous expression on his face. She kept staring at him, until the expression on his face changed from incredulous to uncomfortable. "W-What"—

"What are you going to do here?"

He blinked at her, flabbergasted. "W-Wha..?"

"Everyone believes you are dead. Leaving this apartment would serve nothing. You don't have a job to go back to. Your only family is sleeping in the other room. What are you going to do here?"

Alfred's face was writ large with shock. His eyes were large, and he gaped at her, comprehending what she had just told him. She was…she was…

She was right.

She looked at him. He wasn't very good had hiding his feelings, or keeping them off his face. Every emotion that ran through his mind was clear on his face. Natalya decided to let him think about it, and continued to drink her soup.

"…come with you?"

"Huh?" she asked, not hearing what he'd said clearly. "What?"

"What will I do if I come with you?"

Nat looked at her bowl, raised it to her lips, and drank the remaining soup in one gulp. Delicious. She set the bowl down, and looked at him. "There is something dangerous happening here, in this country," she said, getting up. She walked over to him, and sat on the edge of the table before him. "Your father was involved in all of this. The problem is bigger than anyone imagined. We need to understand what to do next."

She looked down towards him. "You have a link. Whether it is to your father or to the demon, I do not know yet. That shall be determined later. With your help, we can understand what is going on faster, and do what is necessary."

He averted his gaze from hers, looked down. She looked at him. Matt had told her about the kind of life Alfred had to lead, and none of it had sounded pretty. Her life had been tough, but she somehow managed to find people in front of whom her life seemed like a bed of roses. Alfred was one of them.

She could just walk away from all this. The demon was no longer within her, and by the looks of it, no longer within him, either. She could leave all this behind, and go back home, having written off the mission as successfully completed. Johnny Doe had been killed – that's what she was even in this God forsaken country for in the first place.

But…

_"Why should I even do anything at all?"_

_"Because you can."_

Honestly, all she wanted to do was hit that man on the head now, for having ingrained such bothersome values into her. But there was nothing she could do – he'd drilled all the values he had into her, and had made sure they'd stayed deep in her head. And she wasn't going to turn away from any of it.

How troublesome.

"You…"

Nat blinked, and looked down at Alfred. _O Boža, _his eyes were the most dazzling blue she had ever seen.

"You speak really formally, don't you?"

Nat felt a vein throb in her forehead. "Oi."

Alfred grinned, and she blinked. It was like looking at the sun. "That's better." He got up, took her bowl from her. "I'll think about it. Good night."

Nat looked at him as he went into the kitchen. She didn't really know _what_ he had to think about, but she wasn't going to ask – she had her own thinking to do.

She got up, and made her way to her room. There was still a couple hours left before the sun rose. She planned on writing letters and sending it ahead of her to the House of Wheel, letting them know of what was going on.

She entered her room, and gave both the writing desk and the bed a contemplative look. Finally, with a sigh, she threw herself into bed, and sighed deeply. So soft…

Lazing in bed was a luxury, and she was going to take it.

* * *

"What are you doing?"

Nat looked up from her paperwork as Alfred walked in. "I could ask you the same thing."

"No one's at home except you. Plus, Mattie must be on TV."

Nat frowned. "The funeral?"

Alfred found the remote, and hopped into bed. "The funeral of the greatest, most powerful man who ever lived," he said, switching the TV on. He lowered the volume, and the murmur filled the entire room. Nat continued to work, not giving the television a glance.

"What are you doing?" Alfred asked after a while.

"Writing letters."

"Whom to?"

"To my _Ozi Maya._ The head of my temple. I need to report to them what happened."

"Will you be adding that you kissed me as well?"

Nat was glad her back was to him, for she didn't want him to see her blushing wildly. "That was the only way to not get killed. It shall not happen again."

"Pity. I enjoyed that," he said ruefully, and she felt his gaze shift from her back. She sighed softly. She'd been trying to get that…_incident_ out of her mind for some time, and he had to go and remind her just as she'd begun to forget.

"Weren't we leaving today morning?"

_We_? She asked herself wryly. "Your brother told me to wait for two days. He said he wanted to come as well."

"Woah, broski's coming? Awesome."

He kept quiet for a while after that. Nat finished her letters, put them in the envelope and sealed them. She'd go down to the sister temple in the evening, and ask them to send the letter over as soon as possible. She turned around, and saw him staring at the ceiling. The TV was still running, showing Matt saying something. But Alfred wasn't watching it.

She got up, and walked over to him. She took the remote from him, which he handed over without a protest, and switched off the TV. He didn't say anything, just continued to stare at the ceiling.

"Matt told me I'd been locked in there for seven years."

Natalia looked at him. Normally, she wouldn't entertain any sort of unnecessary conversation, but she understood that Alfred was in a daze, and wasn't quite himself. She didn't blame him – if he was really in that cell for seven years, he would have been completely isolated from the world.

"It's crazy." He smiled, and he looked so sad it managed to tug on Natalya's heartstrings. "Mattie, when we were together, was super shy. You can't even tell it's the same person. He was so shy people didn't even know his name, or forgot it altogether," Alfred chuckled. "And now…" he sighed. "And now, he's on TV, making up some bullshit reason for the old man's death, telling people how sad he is when he doesn't even know what to think."

"What do you think?"

Alfred turned to Nat. "I don't know _what_ to think. I didn't know there was a…'demon' trapped within me, although it does explain a lot, like why there seem to be blanks in my memory, or why I was locked up in that place. From what I understand, the old man put that demon within me in the first place, then locked me up to look good." Alfred sighed, but without any bitterness or sadness. "And he was the only person I ever saw, expect Mattie"—

"But Gilbert said"—

"He _wasn't_ supposed to see me. But he wouldn't abandon his own brother," Alfred said, and smiled fondly. "Mattie's a good guy."

Nat nodded, and looked at the blank TV screen. "I didn't think he would let me in after he found out that I…"

"Oh, that wasn't out of the benevolence of his heart. Maybe he realised that you were the only one telling him the truth after all the lies he'd been fed for so long."

Nat looked at him, confused. "Wha…?"

But he didn't answer that. He got off the bed. "I'm coming with you. You're right; I don't have anything to do here. Maybe you can put me to good use, who knows? But, I will warn you – I'm _very _annoying."

Nat sighed quietly. This was not going to be anywhere close to a quiet, quick job. But she should have probably thought of that before she got involved in this mess. "I had a feeling you would be."

"See you at lunchtime, priestess." With that, he walked out.

Nat looked at the table, where her letters lay. The faster _Ozi Maya _got the letters, the quicker they could formulate a plan. She got up to get her coat, then pocketed her letters.

Time for a walk.

* * *

Matt loosened his tie, and threw it across the room. He pulled off his coat and removed his socks, all of which went flying in different directions. He walked to the easy chair towards one corner of the room, and plopped himself onto it.

He had a raging migraine, and he felt weary, body and mind. The countless condolences, the crying, the media…it seemed like there was no end to any of it. A ceremony. That's what they'd all wanted for their hero. A ceremonial farewell to the man whose life was one big adventure.

Matt groaned, and curled over to his side. Who was his father? He had no idea now. Was he the man those people worshipped and cried over? Was he the man his mother fell in love with? Was he the man who was lauded for punishing a monster, even though the monster was his own son? Was he the man whom Matt had obeyed and followed without question?

Or was he the monster harbouring a demon for a bigger cause?

Matt lay in the chair, motionless. He thought his life had changed, from being unknown to being someone with power. But people still didn't know his name – from "Who are you?" to "Alfred Jones Sr.'s son." He was still not known as Mathew Williams Jones. He was still a nobody riding on someone else's name and power.

He had never understood why Alfred used to rebel so much against the old man. Matt had a feeling he was finally beginning to understand.

For years he had done what he was told. For years he had believed in everything around him. The only time he had ever defied his father was when he had gone to see Alfred in prison. He had transformed himself from a shy, quiet boy to a silent, firm leader, just to earn his father's pride.

He had earned it. His father had never been stingy with praise – in fact, he was very generous with his complements. He had been a good father to him – Matt couldn't think of any way in which Alfred Jones Sr. lacked as a father.

_Except for honesty,_ his mind supplied.

He sighed. His headache was lessening. All he'd needed was a bit of quiet and rest. And some medicine and food.

Matt blearily opened his eyes. It was evening. Antonio Fernandez Carriedo, his father's right hand man and now his right hand man, had cancelled the plans for the evening, stating that Matt could no longer keep his composure. Matt had been grateful, and astonished by the elder man's strength. While Matt only knew about his father's demon from reports, Antonio had seen its power before his own eyes. The very fact that he was able to keep his composure and façade despite all that had happened made Matt realise _why _he had earned his title.

Matt felt some of his strength returning to him. He got up, and waited for his head to stop spinning. He pushed himself out of the chair, and slowly made his way to the kitchen, where the medicine cabinet was.

As he walked past the foyer, the main door opened. Natalya entered the apartment, and looked up to see him standing there.

She blinked. "You are back."

He nodded. "Where had you been?"

"To the temple. I had to mail some letters." She removed her sandals, and peered at him closely. "You look ill."

Matt chuckled mirthlessly, trying hard to keep the bitterness from spilling out. Taking a deep breath, he asked, "I was going to make some tea. Would you like some?"

Nat didn't answer, but continued to stare at him until he forgot about his headache and became fidgety. "What?" he asked after what seemed like a long while.

"Why did you ask me to stay?"

Matt looked at her, then looked away. "I need my medicine. Come on," he mumbled. Nat frowned, but followed him into the kitchen. She sat down on the counter, watching as he took some medicine, then sat down on the island counter opposite her, holding his head in his hands. Nat could sense his distress, could feel his pain, but…it wasn't her place to ask.

"I want to come with you. To Senchessy."

Nat blinked. She wasn't expecting that.

"I-I…I want to know what's going on."

Ah. Now it made sense. Nat got off the counter. "You need another day to arrange for things here."

Matt looked up, and Nat realised he was ready to cry. "Y-Yes."

She sighed. "Take your time. I shall leave on the morning of the day after, then. You don't have to explain to me your reasons." And before she could be morally obliged to wipe his tears, she left the room.

She sighed again, a little louder. She couldn't handle such emotions.

_You can't just leave him like that. He needs someone._

She looked up, and saw the door of a room. _Back to the demon's lair, then,_ she thought as she walked to the door. She knocked on the door, and when she heard a grunt of approval, came in.

_Oh, my._

Alfred stood there, in the process of wearing his vest. His body was riddled with scars that he'd gotten from being bound by the chains, but even through the scars, she could see his taut skin, the powerful muscles bunching under it. His capris were riddled low on his lean hips, and she could see the band of his boxers underneath.

Her eyes finally travelled up his body, only to see him smirking at her. "Like what you see, Natalya?"

His slow drawl made her blush hotly. Irritated, mostly at herself, she looked away. "Your brother is in the kitchen. He needs you."

"He's not the only one who needs me, I think," he said lazily, and pulled on his vest. "What do you say, priestess?"

"I'll add another couple of scars to your collection if you keep talking like that, _vyadarak_," Nat warned, turning around to leave. "He seemed…distressed."

"Man, when is that baby ever going to grow up?" Alfred groaned as he walked out of the room. "Thanks, priestess. Appreciate it."

Without giving her another look, he walked towards the kitchen, and stopped at the doorway. "Oi, oi, crybaby, what's got you sweating from your eyes now?"

"S-Shut u-up."

Alfred leaned against the doorframe. "Is that really the best you've learnt to swear?" He sighed. "Some things never change."

Matt didn't reply. Alfred watched as his brother silently wept, and felt his anger growing by the minute. He didn't know whom he was angry with, just…he couldn't bear to see his brother in pain.

Alfred walked past his brother, towards the fridge. He took out the milk carton, poured the milk into a container, and set it to heat. He hunted down the crackers and his brother's never ending supply of maple syrup, and made maple cracker sandwiches as the milk heated. He put the crackers on a plate, poured the hot milk into a cup and dumped a sickly amount of syrup into the milk, wondering how his brother could even enjoy so much sweet. He walked over to his brother, and set down the cup and plate next to him.

Matt looked up from his hands, and then to Alfred, who just said, "Eat."

Matt picked up a cracker, while Alfred went and sat opposite him. "I remember mom used to make that for you, every time you started wailing during a thunderstorm. I still don't understand how you can consume so much of that stuff."

Matt chuckled through his tears. "T-That's rich, coming from the biggest g-glutton of all time." He picked up the mug, and took a sip of the milk. Alfred had made it just the way their mother used to. "You remembered."

"It's not something I'd forget."

Alfred watched Matt eat the crackers and drink the milk, wincing as he downed the maple syrup in the milk. Alfred _was_ the biggest glutton who ate the unhealthiest food, but his brother's obsession with maple syrup bordered to insanity.

"I-I'm going to Senchessy. With Natalya."

Alfred wasn't really surprised, but he was still curious. "What about the empire?"

"I spoke to Antonio about it. He said he would take care of it for me while I was away." Matt gripped his half full mug tightly. "There are some things I want to know."

"So you think going with the priestess will answer those questions."

"I'll find my answers somehow."

Alfred gave him a look so serious Matt doubted he was looking at his twin. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"No reason." Alfred got up, and walked over to take one of the plain crackers from the plate. "I guess the younger brother of a hero is also a hero." He popped it in his mouth, and ruffled Matt's hair on his way out. "Finish your business by tomorrow. I'm getting bored sitting at home all day long."

"Even with the priestess here?"

_Oho_. So his brother still did possess his uncanny intuition. Alfred turned around, and gave Matt a lopsided grin. "I get to rile her up once in a while, when I'm not exercising."

"It's not really like you to take so much interest in someone."

Alfred shrugged. "Don't think too much into it. She's the first female company I've had for a very, very long time. And she seems to have a short fuse."

"She's a priestess, Alfred."

_With a sexy body and a very, very kissable mouth._ "Don't worry. I'll just amuse myself by baiting her. She doesn't seem to mind." _And I get to see that cute blush_.

Matt sighed, and gave him a watery grin. "I'll make you some dinner."

"You don't look like you could make yourself coffee. You can still order out in this day and age, right?"

Matt laughed, and Alfred felt his spirits lift. "It hasn't been so long, Alfred."

_Trust me, broski, it feels like a lifetime ago. _"Well, then. Order away. I trust you remember my favourites."

Matt nodded. "Mmhmm."

"You'll find me in your gym. And go talk to your priestess; you had her worried."

Matt got up, drank the last of the milk. Alfred winced. "She was worried about me?"

"Yeah. Send her my regards," Alfred said, and walked away, lifting his hand in a salute.

"Your…regards…?" Matt mumbled. He felt he was missing something, but just shrugged.

Now, what was he going to order for dinner?

* * *

Nat felt a vein throb in her head. "This is not a field trip."

"I don't know," Alfred said, "Looks like it."

Nat glared at him, but couldn't keep it up for long, since someone else was yelling into her ear.

"We also wish to come along with you!"

Nat looked at Gilbert. "Why?"

"We need answers."

Nat turned to Elizabeta, who had spoken. The woman carried genuine pain in those large, green eyes. "We need to know what's going on."

Nat eyed Eliza and Gilbert warily. They had reached the temple, and the head priestess had been gracious enough to provide transport to the three of them. Just as they were about to leave, Elizabeta and Gilbert appeared, the latter demanding Natalya take them with her.

"Please," Elizabeta begged, "let us come with you."

Natalya scowled. First Mathew, now them. The only one whom she actually needed to take back with her was Alfred, because of his connection with his father's spirit, but it looked like others needed to come along with her.

"It looks like you'll need a bigger car, Priestess Arlovskaya."

Natalya looked at the head priestess, who was smiling at her. Nat sighed, and bowed in gratitude. She turned to Eliza. "Just…handle this one," she said, pointing to Gilbert.

"How dare you? I am the awesome Gilbert! I can't be"—

Even Nat winced when the back of the pan connected with Gilbert's head. Eliza got out of her fighter stance, and grinned at Nat. "Done."

Nat suddenly felt a surge of respect and awe towards the elder woman. She just nodded, and bowed again towards the head priestess. "Thank you."

"Send my regards to your temple."

Natalya smiled, a genuine, heartfelt smile. "I shall." She turned to the four accompanying her. "Let's go."

As she walked to the car, she couldn't help but smile to herself.

She was going home.

* * *

**A/T: Well, that's another chapter. **

**Hope you guys enjoyed it.**

**R. K. Iris.**


	5. The House of Wheel

**Disclaimer: Don't own Hetalia**

* * *

_Ni –_ Ukr – No

_Moyi vybachennya –_Ukr – My apologies

_lyudyna i pryroda_ – Ukr – man and nature

_moda – _spirit

_syn _– Ukr – son

_es ist schön_ \- Ger – it's beautiful

_Was _\- Ger – What

_Frau, dame _– Ger – lady

* * *

Chapter 5

Natalya took her coat off, and ignoring discipline, threw it across the room. It didn't have to travel too far before landing on the chair at the corner of her small cell.

Nat sighed, and threw herself in bed. She had a terrible, terrible headache, starting from the middle of her forehead. That Gilbert Beilschmidt…she didn't know what was worse, his incessant yelling of 'I'm awesome!' or the clang of metal against his head which followed. Or Alfred Jones's constant "I'm a hero!" followed by his exasperating laugh.

She needed to find a mechanism to mute all of them. Or just Alfred – Elizabeta was taking care of Gilbert.

Right now, she needed to sleep.

She opened one weary eye, and looked around. With a small smile and a sigh of contentment, she pulled the bedsheet over her.

Home, sweet home.

* * *

"Where did she disappear to?"

Matt looked up at Alfred, and shushed him. "Lower your voice. This is a temple."

Alfred crossed his arms and looked around. "I'm not too happy about this."

"You couldn't shut up about how we were never going to get here. Now…well…enjoy yourself."

Alfred blinked at Matt in surprise. "Wow, broski. Didn't know you could get irritated."

"Yeah, well you don't know a lot about me," Matt muttered softly. He couldn't help it. It had been a hellish ride for him, probably all of them. Gilbert couldn't stop talking during the day, and Alfred screamed in his sleep at night. Matt understood why both happened – it was Gilbert's way of dealing with things, and Alfred had undergone serious trauma. All he wanted was sleep, and now, here they were, waiting outside the door of the Head Priestess' room.

Alfred, however, heard him, and immediately sobered up. But before he could say anything, he heard a soft, "Come in" from the other side of the door. He looked at his brother, who got up, and he quickly followed suit. Matt opened the door, and the two of them entered, side by side.

Matt stifled his surprise, while Alfred didn't bother with such niceties. The priestess had silky, short hair, the same wheat-blonde shade as Natalya's. She had large blue eyes which twinkled softly and merrily, as if she had a secret which was starkly obvious, but no one else could see. Behind the twinkle, however, lay ages and ages of wisdom and maturity, nurturing no doubt as to why this woman was the head priestess of the House of Wheels.

But her eyes weren't the only large features she possessed. Her welcoming, warm smile as she ushered them in, and her large…

"Alfred…" Matt whispered as they walked towards the sofas arranged at one corner of the room. "Stop staring."

"I can't help it," he grumbled back, quickly averting his eyes from the Head Priestess's ample bosom. Ample, however, wasn't the word for it – the word '_large_' kept swimming before Alfred's eyes, while Matt refused to think at all. Soon, more words like '_enormous_', '_huge_', '_ginormous_' and other synonyms began floating around in Alfred's head, and he had to grit his teeth and keep his eyes to his lap.

"Welcome to our home," came her soft, soothing voice. Matt looked up, and quickly regretted it, while Alfred kept his gaze strictly trained on his lap. "You are Alfred Jones Sr.'s sons, _da_?"

Their father's name sobered them both, and they looked at the Priestess's face. "I am Katyusha Braginskaya, the Head Priestess here. Thank you, both, for coming here."

She spoke slowly, her tone well-paced, as though she was carefully choosing her words before saying them. Matt remembered how Natalya had mentioned that English wasn't her mother tongue, and her way of talking was similar to Katyusha's, so he inferred that both of them had different native tongues. Still, Natalya's English was quite comprehensive and extensive.

"I hope you have had a safe trip. Natalya is my student. If she has made any errors, I ask for your forgiveness."

"Oh, no, no, that's not necessary!" Matt quickly said, shaking his hands. "It was a tiring journey, and she did the best she could."

"Your rooms are being prepared now. I will just – Come in," she said at the knock on the door. The door opened, and Elizabeta and Gilbert entered. Katyusha smiled at the two of them. "Please join us."

Matt and Alfred turned around. The two of them seemed to have freshened up, and were wearing the same clothes as the rest of the priests and priestesses. Gilbert looked a lot calmer, and so did Eliza. They both bowed to Katyusha, and sat down next to Matt. "Thank you for having us, _Ozi Maya._ I hope it's no trouble," Eliza said.

"Oh, _ni, ni_. It is not trouble to have guests. We are honoured."

Alfred looked at Katyusha suspiciously. She looked a bit too much like Natalya, albeit a rounder and more…voluptuous version of the younger woman. But it was that look in her eyes…it seemed as though she could understand all of their pain, and had a solution for all of them. Alfred didn't trust that look, no matter how genuine it seemed to be. How in the name of the Lord God in the Heavens above could she have _any idea_ of what he had gone through? How could any of them in this room even hazard a guess? He couldn't believe in such a trusting look.

She turned to him, and smiled. Alfred, embarrassed on being caught, turned away, his cheeks turning slightly pink.

"You must be the Reserve."

Alfred's head shot around. "Excuse me?"

"_Moyi vybacchenya_. We have a specific term for that, but its best translation would be Reserve. But first, I must talk to you about this establishment."

"How does it have anything to do with this?" Alfred questioned while Matt tried to shush him in vain.

"It'll explain things better to you," she said with a smile. Alfred distrusted that smile to no end.

"Alfred, keep quiet," Matt whispered, and Alfred's frown deepened. How could these people—disgusted, he just crossed his arms and looked away. To hell with these people.

Katyusha, on the other hand, had the full attention of the others. "We follow the religion of _Mani_, and call ourselves _Manikars_. Our religion consists of eight major Houses, and many other minor Houses under the eight major ones. A main House follows one of the eight main disciplines listed in our scriptures. Four disciplines deal only with learning and teaching of our scriptures. The other disciplines involve learning martial arts, along with the scriptures, in order to keep balance. Our House of Wheels is one of them."

"Keep balance of what, exactly?" Elizabeta asked.

"Between man and Nature, _lyudyna i pryroda. _But while that is our primary duty, our duty also lies in keeping balance between the Nature of this world, and the Nature of the other worlds."

Katyusha slowed down as she spoke now. "In our religion, we believe that there exist a total of twelve worlds, existing and thriving together. You may or may not choose to believe in it. Our duty as priests and priestesses is to maintain the harmony within the universe. And, like us, there exist inhabitants of the other worlds who also wish to maintain harmony. Our ancestors, along with these inhabitants, formed a network which allows us to work together. The number twelve isn't just any number – we do have proof"—

"How is this connected to us in any way?" Alfred grumbled, and Matt elbowed him. Alfred glared at Matt, who slid his glasses higher up and glared back just as ferociously.

"I was just about to tell you," Katyusha said sweetly, not taking any chagrin to Alfred's belligerence. "This network has ensured that we know as much as we can about these other worlds, and of their inhabitants. Some of these inhabitants regularly cross over to other worlds, and sometimes, we also do the same. But there are some inhabitants who are not a part of the network, but are forced to cross over because someone from another world has learnt to summon them. This is the case of your demon, Mr Jones.

"Since the flow of time is different in each world, sometimes the inhabitants described in scriptures as long as two hundred years might still be alive in their world. The demon that was summoned is probably a level three demon, which means it has immense power, making it hard to summon and harder to dismiss. These demons are summoned by drawing their summoning circles – I shall not delve into that. Usually it is drawn on the ground or on an object, and that object is preserved until the demon needs to be dismissed, but in your case, the demon was summoned through the mind."

Katyusha waited for Alfred's response, and saw that _she_ finally had _his_ attention. He frowned, and asked, "What do you mean?"

"Your father kept the image of the demon's summoning circle in his mind, without any other thoughts, and bound it to his mind. It is a feat in itself, to be able to concentrate without distractions for so long. If nothing else, it is commendable. What it means to you, and to us as a whole, is that the demon is still in this world. It is either within you or it is bound to your father's spirit."

"The priestess said something about that," Alfred murmured thoughtfully. When Katyusha looked at Matt curiously, he quickly said, "Miss Natalya told us that either the demon or our father's spirit was locked in Alfred. She guessed it was the latter, but…she didn't say anything about the demon being…bound to our father's spirit."

"It's a logical conclusion based on the studies done by our ancestors. If your father's _moda_, or spirit, is within you, the demon cannot harm you. But it also cannot leave this world. Since it does not belong here, its presence here, and its absence in its own world causes a disruption. It is this disruption that drew our attention to Fitzgerald, and to your father."

Gilbert looked at Katyusha. "You can sense this disruption?"

Katyusha nodded. "It is a part of our training."

Gilbert fell back in the sofa. "That is so awesome."

There was a knock at the door, and a small girl entered. She conversed with Katyusha in a tongue none of them understood, and when Katyusha replied, she nodded and stood by the door.

"It seems your rooms are ready. Lavender will show you the way. Once Natalya wakes up, we can discuss what we must do at great length. Right now, you must all rest."

"Ummm…ma'am, I wish to speak with you."

Katyusha blinked, and looked at Matt, who had stayed back, while the others had followed the little girl. Her plump face creased as she smiled at him. "Of course,_ syn_."

"My brother, Alfred, please…don't mind him. He's been through a lot, so"—

"Natalya told me about him. I understand."

_Do you really_? Matt wanted to ask, but didn't want to seem impertinent. But, when he looked into Katyusha's eyes, he couldn't fathom why he felt like she understood _exactly _what his brother was going through.

"Before you go to sleep, please come to me. I have designed an amulet for him to calm him down. It should be ready by night time."

Matt didn't know how to express his gratitude. He beamed at her. "Thank you so much."

Katyusha smiled warmly. "Would you like a tour of the temple?"

Matt gave her the largest smile he could. "There is nothing I would like more."

* * *

Nat woke up, and blinked. In a few moments, she oriented herself, and realised where she was. She yawned sleepily, licked her lips, and opened and closed her mouth several times. She rolled over to the other side, and let her mind reacquaint itself with the incidents of the past.

Finally, completely aware of her surroundings, she turned on her back, and looked at the ceiling. Her mental clock told her it was close to ten at night. If nothing else in this blessed world, Nat completely trusted her sense of timing. It had never let her down.

With a groan, she swung upright, and planted her feet on the ground. Her head was woozy, the effects of skipping two meals straight. She waited for her senses to stop spinning, and continued to sit still as she thought.

She pondered over her conversation with the demon. Johnny Doe had allegedly summoned it with his mind. From her training as a priestess,she was taught that the mind was the manifestation of the spirit in the body, which left the body upon its death and travelled to another body, in order to reap the fruits of its actions in its previous life and achieve its unfulfilled desires.

So, whether the demon resided in Alfred's body, or his father's spirit, the demon was still within this world. On their trip here, Natalya had dismissed the idea of removing Alfred's father's spirit from within Alfred. Removing the cause wouldn't undo the damage, or prevent future damage already set in motion. Alfred would have to learn to communicate with his father's soul, and figure out what the man had done.

Nat got up, and groped around for her coat. The Head Priestess Katyusha would probably not be awake. Nat didn't want to disturb her, either. Nat donned her coat, and quietly stepped out of her room.

Knowledge was power. Realising this, the ancestors of the discipline of the House of Wheels had kept records of all the demons who had ever visited their World, or possessed a power that could threaten their World. Nat knew that there had to be some record of this demon somewhere, and of that lotus flower contract tattoo.

Nat braided her long hair, and wound it in a bun. It would just get in the way. She found her glasses in the inner lining of her coat, and put them on.

She would burn the midnight oil in the Archives.

* * *

Gilbert paused for a while, and watched Elizabeta. She sat on the grass, her brown tresses flowing down her back, appearing darker due to the white contrast of her shirt.

It had been her idea to change into the priest's garb, which had turned out to be much more comfortable and cleaner than the change of clothes they had brought with them. Their clothes were in desperate need of cleaning two days before they had reached the temple, and both of them – followed later by Matt and Alfred – had been grateful for a set of clean clothes.

The moonlight was above her head, casting a glow to her brown hair, and creating shadows across her face. He knew she always looked beautiful, but now…

He gulped. She looked ethereal.

She must have sensed him, for she turned around, and smiled at him. "Couldn't sleep?"

He shook his head, both at the question as well as at his turbulent emotions, and walked over to her. "The awesome me does not sleep so early," he said.

"I'm going to ignore that," Eliza muttered as he sat down next to her.

"Huh?"

"Never mind," she sighed, and looked up. "You can actually see the stars here."

Gilbert smiled, and stretched out his legs. "_Es ist schön_."

"Why would anyone want to sleep through nights like this?" she asked, and turned to him. She could barely conceal her gasp.

His white hair, and his fair skin seemed to be shining as bright as the moon itself, giving him a surreal, godly appearance. His red eyes seemed to burn brighter, intensely against the backdrop of his face, and she couldn't quite fathom whether he was an angel, or the Devil reincarnate.

He tilted his head towards her, and looked at her. "_Was_?"

She felt her cheeks grow hot. Mustering up her most uninterested look, she said, "You look pale."

Gilbert lifted one eyebrow. "I _am_ pale, _frau_," he said, irritated. She looked away quickly, confusing him even further. He sighed. This woman managed to confuse him like nothing else.

But when she continued to look away, his irritation waned. "Eliza. What are you thinking about?"

Eliza sighed, and looked at him. "Mathew. Alfred. Especially the second brother," she confessed. She _had_ been thinking about them continually ever since Gilbert told her about the incident that took place in the dungeons, and when she turned away from Gilbert, the gravity of their situation returned back to her.

Gilbert sighed, and lay down on the grass. He turned to Eliza. "Lie down."

"I'd rather no—ooaaah!" she yelped as he yanked her down into the grass next to him. "If the clothes get dirty," he told her, "we can wash them ourselves. Your problem is that you aren't relaxing. Awesome people relax."

"How can you relax"—

"What is getting worried going to do? It's not going to let you sleep," he said, and she closed her eyes. Trust him to hit the hammer on the head.

"What about all this religious…stuff?" Eliza asked. "It's not like we even believe in their religion. Yes, there was something unnatural about what happened in the van that day, and what you saw in the dungeons. But there could be some other explanation that…you know, explains this stuff."

"Do you have it?"

"…N-No."

"Eliza, these people seem to know what's going on. Right now, I'm going to trust them. They have the answers we are looking for. It's the awesome thing to do."

Eliza turned her head to the side. "You just like putting awesome in every other sentence."

"Hey, _frau_, if it's awesome, it's awesome. It's that simple."

Eliza sighed, and stared at the night sky for a while, letting the silence descend over them both. "What about Alfred?"

"What about him?"

"He seems…dangerous."

Gilbert chuckled mirthlessly. "He _is_ dangerous, _dame._ But as long as he doesn't do anything, it's fine."

Elizabeta was satisfied with his answer, but her mind just wouldn't calm down. And Gilbert, who'd been there with her from what seemed to be forever, noticed it without even having to look at her. He lay there peacefully next to her, while the nervous energy in her grew by the moment. Finally, with a sigh, he got up, turned towards her and pinched her nose.

"Oww," Elizabeta said in a nasal tone. He towered over her, her view of the moon covered by his face, the moonlight setting his hair ablaze, into a white flame. His smile, the kind, understanding look in his eyes snatched away her breath more effectively than his fingers pinching her nose.

"Oi. Calm down." His fingers eased from on her nose, and his hand rested on her cheek in a gesture so familiar it was absent-mindedly done. "It'll be fine. I know…it's not easy. But I believe it's going to be fine."

Eliza chuckled softly. "When did you become so wise?"

Gilbert broke into a grin. "Wise people are awesome. I'm awesome."

Eliza didn't find it in herself to say anything otherwise. She grazed her fist against his cheek. "Let's go get some sleep." She rose into a sitting posture. "I have a feeling it's going to be a long day tomorrow."

Gilbert rose, and helped Eliza on her feet. "Me too, _dame_, me too."

* * *

Matt couldn't ignore the way Alfred's eyes lit up when he saw Matt at the doorway. "Hey, broski."

Matt walked into the room. Alfred rose from the bed, and made some space for Matt to sit down next to him. Matt sat down, cradling the amulet in his hands.

"Priestess Katyusha made this for you. It's supposed to be a healing amulet," Matt said, handing it to Alfred.

"I'm fine"—

"It'll help you sleep better. It's got a whole lot of things which will calm your body and mind down."

Alfred looked at the amulet quietly, and Matt watched Alfred. Honestly, he didn't know what to do. Alfred was his elder brother, but, sometimes…he didn't know if he was imagining it, or if he was the only one feeling the distance between them. Even though Matt visited Alfred, it was never for long – he would clean Alfred, give him painkillers, and stitch up his wounds. Most of the times, Alfred was unconscious, or just barely conscious. And now, having to be with Alfred, having to deal with all this…Matt didn't know what to do, if anything at all.

"Do you think so?" Alfred asked him.

For as long as Matt had known him, Alfred never _asked_ anyone's opinion. Even in the dungeons, when Alfred was conscious enough to hold a decent conversation, it was always as if the chains, the dungeons, the sentence imposed upon him could never hold him down, could never keep him captive. Before that, even, from whatever Matt remembered, Alfred was always the leader, always the one making decisions, going on adventures, and Matt always followed him. And now…

He sighed inwardly. Now, he needed some sleep so that, for a few hours, this role reversal, these past couple of weeks could seem like a dream.

"Yeah. I saw them finishing it. They had a whole bunch of herbs and all sorts of books. They knew what they were doing."

"Hmm," Alfred murmured. "How do I…?"

"Give," Matt said, and took the amulet from him. He tied it to Alfred's upper right arm. "Too tight?"

"It's fine."

Matt patted the amulet absently, and slid his glasses up his nose. "I'm going to sleep. Good night, Alfred."

"Good night," Alfred mumbled, and dove under the covers as Matt rose. Matt had just gotten to the door when Alfred called out his name.

"What is it?" Matt asked.

"Is it…can you sleep here tonight?"

Matt frowned. "That bed's big enough for one. I'm not going to sleep on top of you."

"No, umm…could you ask them to put out another bed…or mattress, at least? We could both sleep on the ground – it'll be like camping!"

Matt didn't want to bother anyone at this time of the night, but he knew he could probably pick up his own bedding from the adjacent room and plonk it on the ground. But Alfred's request was still baffling him, and the eager look in his eyes baffled him even more. "I'll get my stuff," Matt said, and walked out of the room, a frown on his face. His room was a few paces away, and he quickly reached the door of his own cell.

The rooms were tiny, but adequately furnished. There was a bed against the wall, a good sized window with a table and chair before it, equipped with necessary stationery, a small cupboard to keep clothes and personal belongings, and a plant on the window sill. There was a clock on the wall opposite the bed, and a prop-up calendar on the table. Two entire buildings within the complex housed all the priests and priestesses, along with students and guests in such rooms.

Matt opened the door of his room, and it was completely dark inside. He went it, and was about to switch on the light when the answer hit him.

_He's lonely._

Matt's finger paused on the switch. It made a lot more sense now. He switched on the room's lone light, and sighed. Matt had to try to understand his brother better, to understand what he was going through.

Matt gathered the mattress and the sheets from the bed, and heaved it onto one shoulder. He left the room, switching off the light behind him. The mattress wasn't too thick, and Matt hoped he wouldn't wake up with cricks in his neck and with general body ache. He walked into Alfred's room, and saw Alfred had made space by sitting the bed upright instead of horizontal, and placing his mattress in the empty space.

Matt dropped his bedding on the ground. "Do you want me to move that into my room?"

Alfred busied himself by straightening out Matt's bedding. "I don't think so. It'll make a lot of noise if we drop it."

Matt shrugged. "Your wish." They got into bed, and Matt pulled his sheet till his nose. "If that thing falls on you…"

"It'll probably break," Alfred said nonchalantly, and grinned at Matt.

Matt chuckled. "Probably." He turned onto his stomach. "Goodnight, Alfred."

Alfred grinned at him, and turned to his side. "Goodnight, broski. Sleep tight."

Matt raised one hand and pressed it on Alfred's cheek. "If you scream during the night, I'll choke you."

"Well, you can blame it on the amulet not working."

Matt patted Alfred's cheek, and let it slip off. "Yeah, yeah, you're right," he mumbled. "Go to sleep."

"G'night, Matt."

"G'night, Alfie."

And, like that, both of them fell into a deep, undisturbed sleep.

* * *

**A/T: I'm sorry for not updating earlier. I used up all my internet data, and had to wait for my mum to replenish it for me.**

**So, the words-meanings are going to be up in front. I don't see the point in putting them at the end. It's not like anyone is going to scroll all the way to the bottom, or if they'll know the meanings are even there. I just feel putting it at the top is less pointless than putting it at the bottom. And some words are my own creation, so...yeah.**

**I just had to write that scene at the end. Whoever thinks Alfred is ooc...if someone had to live in a prison with a demon inside them, chained to a wall and not allowed to see anyone for seven years, and found themselves amongst people all of a sudden, you can see why such a person would be ooc. I want to put up a good story, so bear with me.**

**And PruHun happens to be one of my favourite pairings.**

**Whoever's reading this, give me a shout out as to whom you'd like to see the utterly delicious and darling Mathew Williams with. I have all sorts of crack pairings in my head, but I'd like to know what you'd like to see.**

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

**R. K. Iris.**


	6. Stay dead, old man

**Disclaimer : Don't own Hetalia.**

* * *

Chapter 6

* * *

_Vyaradak – _Bel – b*****rd

_Dy – _Bel – Yes

_Syn –_ Ukr – Son

_Idyjot _\- Bel – idiot

* * *

_"Alice. Do you want to marry me?"_

_Her eyes were startling green, like bottomless emeralds. She smiled. The surface of the green pools remained still; the smile didn't reach till her pool-like eyes._

_"You aren't the kind of man who asks for what he wants. Why the sudden change of heart?"_

_"I don't want your unhappiness."_

_The surface of those emotionless pools finally stirred, giving way to bitterness. "You should have thought of that a lot sooner."_

_She whispered it. She didn't want anyone to hear that. She looked up, and spoke loudly. "I wish to be happy. I shall be happy."_

_"I'm glad."_

o-O-o

"Oi, Alfred! What are you doing?" Matt asked, tapping Alfred's knee.

"Is he sleeping with his eyes open?" Eliza asked.

"Who sleeps with their eyes open? Not awesome," Gilbert declared, and with a yelp went and hid behind Matt as soon as he sighted the glint in Eliza's eyes.

Natalya turned from the frown on Katyusha's face, to Alfred. His mouth was open, slightly, as if he were actually asleep, but it was the look in his eyes that disturbed Natalya, or the lack of a look – his eyes were glazed over, and he stared right through Katyusha, who was sitting before him.

They had gathered post breakfast to discuss the next plan of action. Natalya had informed Katyusha of everything she could find about the demon during the night during breakfast, and Katyusha was explaining it to them. During her explanation, she suddenly stopped, and began frowning at Alfred, prompting everyone to look at the latter.

Matt kept calling out his name, but Alfred didn't respond. Eliza and Gilbert, too, tried to rouse him, but it was unsuccessful – Alfred wasn't responding to anything.

o-O-o

_"What are you doing here? And why do you look like me?"_

_I wanted to ask him the same question. Why the hell was there a guy in front of me who could pass off as me if he shaved off his beard?_

_I took a quick glance around. It seemed like a pretty posh bedroom, and I was guessing it belonged to the chick sitting on the bed before him. She didn't seem to see me, though. I frowned. It was really strange – one minute, I was staring into her eyes, saying stuff like they were lines of a script I never got to read. And the next minute, there was this douche continuing from where I stopped._

_"Dude, if you ask me, that chick doesn't want to marry you."_

_He looked down at her, and then looked back up at me again. But this time, his eyes…he didn't look human at all. No, he looked…_

_He looked like the monster inside me._

_I didn't know where I was. I turned around, and ran._

o-O-o

A voice was screaming in Nat's head, an incoherent jumble of words that made less sense that what was happening to Alfred. His body began twitching, and his head slowly lolled back.

"Alfred! Come on! What are you doing!" Matt yelled urgently, and rose. But just as Matt was about to shake him to his senses, Natalya yelled, "Don't touch him!"

All of them turned to Natalya, and looked at her, shocked. She herself didn't know why she said that – it just slipped out of her mouth. But the voice in her head continued to yell, to roar.

"Natalya, what is it?"

Katyusha's voice came faintly from behind her, as if through a screen of water. Natalya had no answer – she herself didn't know what was going on. But she knew no one was to touch Alfred, or else…or else something, something would go wrong.

She began recollecting something she'd read in one of the books, about how someone hosting another entity should be treated. On an impulse, she donned on her coat.

"Priestess, what's going on? What's happening to Alfred?" Matt cried helplessly, his voice carrying his frustration. Natalya grabbed her bag slung on the back of her chair, and rummaged through her bag, in the process glancing at Alfred.

His entire body was convulsing now, and he shook violently. His mouth was wide open now, and the glassy look in his eyes still remained. Ice cold fingers traversed the length of Natalya's spine, and she had to hold back a shiver. He looked unreal, almost…dead.

Nat's fingers curled around the hilt, and she pulled out her gun. She strapped it to her waist, pulled out the other gun, and dropped the knapsack on the chair.

"Natalya, are you sure you want to do this?"

Natalya looked at Katyusha, concern writ large over her face. As quietly as she could, she responded in the same tongue as Katyusha. "Do I have a choice?"

Katyusha rose. "If you aren't back in five minutes, I shall pull you out, regardless of what happens to the boy."

"It depends on the time within Alfred's mind…fine. Give me seven minutes, and pull me out." Nat turned to Alfred, who was violently thrashing about in his chair – it was a wonder that he hadn't yet fallen out of it.

"Matt, move," was all Nat needed to say to get Mathew back in his seat. As Nat approached Alfred, she hoped she was doing the right thing.

o-O-o

_What the fuck was going on?_

_It was…I was running through scenes of someone's life, the life of the guy chasing me. I slowed down sometimes, I picked up speed in other scenes. It was terrifying._

_I couldn't see the demon anymore, but I knew the – his? her? It? – presence. And even as I went through these…these…_

_It occurred to me right then. These were memories._

_I stopped in the middle of one, urging my brain to work. _Think, Alfred, think! You're the hero, dammit! _I told myself as I tried to recall everything that I knew. _

_A sudden movement jostled me, and I looked around. I was in the middle of a ballroom. My confusion increased. What the hell – _

_I sidestepped a couple, and moved away from all the dancing couples and went to a vantage point. It was freaking bizarre – I couldn't make out any of their faces. It was a blur of eyes and noses and mouths – it was so fucked up I couldn't explain it to myself._

_Almost as if like a magnet, my attention was drawn to just one couple dancing. It was the same chick from before, but I could make out her features better. She looked like a stuck up aristocrat, and had all their features – high cheekbones, small nose, small mouth. She had blond hair flowing down her back, and those emotionless eyes from before were bright and alive now. The weirdest thing about her was her eyebrows. They were thick and black, and seemed…bushy? I don't know, I was too far away to make out. They definitely seemed bushy._

_The guy dancing with her wasn't my doppelganger. He was also aristocratic-looking. He was tall, and he kept his blond hair tied up in a short ponytail at the back. The chick came up till his chin, which sported a goatee. He was looking at her like she was some prize he'd been given from the heavens themselves._

_I frowned. This didn't make any sense._

_"She loves him."_

_Oh shit. I completely forgot. I spun around, even before registering the voice and its words. And when I saw who it was, I nearly shat my pants. _

_He smiled at me. His eyes were…sad, like they used to be during his visits to the dungeons. When he was still alive. "You might be wondering what I'm doing here," he said._

_I couldn't speak. I couldn't think. I just nodded. _

_"The priestess was right. Either the demon or I would remain in you. I don't know if it's your bad luck or not, but I am what remains in you."_

_My throat was dry, but my mind was finally working again. "How is that bad luck?"_

_"If the demon was within you, they would exorcise it. The demon is within my mind, and my mind is within you. They can't exorcise it now."_

_"What will happen"—_

_I heard a loud roar, an unnatural yell. A claw emerged from the window opposite me, and the scene, all the people, the ballroom before me dissipated like mist. The doppelganger appeared before me, heaving and panting. My father's presence from next to me disappeared._

_"_What…are…you…doing…here?"

_It didn't even sound like he was talking – it was like a million voices, overlapping over one another, speaking a second too early or too late. It sounded like garbled nonsense. But, somehow, I knew what he was trying to say._

_"_You are not Johnny Doe. Who are you?"

_The man stood up. Somehow, I could see him, and well as…myself? It was so messed up – I could see him, and somehow I could see through his eyes as well, at the same time. _

"Answer me!"

_I wanted to. I couldn't. My throat was dry. My brain had stopped working. My senses were swimming. _

"Die, then."

_My brain screamed one word – RUN!_

_I turned around, and ran. The sky was red, the ground was hard and brown. Then the sky became brown, and the ground became red. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know—_

_Something heavy planted itself on my hip. I screamed, and looked down._

_Gunshots rang in the sky, and I dived to the ground. The doppelganger's vision jerked, and went black._

_"Pick that up, and shoot, _vyaradak!"

_I looked up upon hearing the voice. A hand grabbed my arm, yanked me to my feet, and I found myself staring at a silver braid. _

_"N-Natalya?"_

_"_The priestess. What are you doing here?"

_"None of your concern. Go back where you came from." She turned to me, and began speaking quickly. "Alfred, I've strapped a gun to your hip. Take that out, and if he manages to get close"—_

_His roar interrupted her, and he jumped towards us. Over his roar, she yelled out, "Shoot him down!" and ran towards the doppelganger._

_She swung out her gun, and shot the doppelganger. One bullet went through his head, another remained in his stomach. He flew in the air, and landed some distance away. The doppelganger-demon rose, and ran towards Natalya, taking swipes at her face. She dodged, got into his personal space, and shot him in the heart three times, throwing him into the air again. She didn't seem to feel any recoil, whereas the demon went flying as if shot by cannon balls._

_"_What is that?_" the demon screamed, and I had to slap my hands to my ears to stop my eardrums from getting blown off. That scream itself had a huge amount of power, getting me to my knees. Natalya, however, didn't budge – she stood there unaffected._

_She said something in a language I didn't understand, but the demon seemed to comprehend her. "Specially crafted bullets? You seem to have a lot of skill and knowledge about demons, to craft a weapon like that," he said._

_I removed the weapon holstered at my hip, and looked at it. It wasn't a gun. It looked like a mini crossbow, with a barrel at one end, and a large wheel on the top which covered most of the gun, leaving the end of the barrel and the two arms exposed. I turned it over. There were two projections—_

_Gunshots filled the sky again, and I looked up. Natalya was fighting with the demon again, but this time, she was running towards the demon. As soon as she was in arm's range, the demon swung his arm to claw her face off. Deflecting the blow with her right hand, she pivoted, and slammed the back of the crossbow contraption against the demon's face. _

_The demon shrieked, and even as I shut my ears I could see his face burning. I looked at the opposite end of the barrel – it was a rectangular shaped end, with half a flower inscribed on it, having eight petals and two half petals on either side, surrounded by various inscriptions. I looked back at the demon – the burn on his face was squared shaped. Then, how – _

_"Alfred, pull the arms apart and bring them together!" Natalya screamed at me. I pulled the arms of the crossbow – the wheel split apart at the centre, with tiny chains connecting the two parts. The arms came together easily enough, and the projections on the underside came together to form a trigger contraption. And the flower, too was complete, with nine petals inscribed in a circle._

_"Alfred!" Natalya yelled, and I looked up. There, in midair, the doppelganger was posed, ready to kill me. I drew out the gun, and pulled the trigger._

_The recoil wasn't as much as I'd expected. I didn't stop firing. All the bullets hit the doppelganger – some flew through him, some stayed embedded. Blood shot through the air – some fell on my face, some fell on the ground. _

_I didn't stop firing. _

_I didn't. _

_I couldn't. _

_I couldn't stop._

_ He couldn't live._

_ I couldn't let him live. _

_He had to die. _

_He had to die. _

_"Alfred!"_

_A hand came up from behind my head, and pulled it down to something warm. A switch turned back on within me. I stopped. My arms swung down. _

_Natalya was…hugging me. She was holding my head down over her neck. She smelled of jasmines. But, why did she…?_

_"It's okay. He's not going to hurt you," she whispered into my ear. She raised her head. __"We are leaving," she said loudly._

_"_Who is he?_"_

_"The spawn. He shall be back. And so shall I."_

_I could see what the demon could see again. And the look in Natalya's eyes…scared me. Her eyes spoke of her opponent's death, no matter what it would do to her. Her eyes carried no fear of her own death, and a challenge to try and kill her. Remorseless, fearless, deadly. _

_Through the demon's vision, I watched her turn away from the demon, and towards me. Her breath was heavy, and fell over my hair. "Count to three."_

_"1…2…"_

o-O-o

Natalya's eyes flew open, and she fell back, panting. Alfred's eyes gained back their life, and he sat up straight, looking at everyone with wild fear and confusion.

"You got to him in time," Katyusha said.

Nat ignored the confused looks she was getting from the rest of them, and turned to Katyusha. "_Dy._ He wasn't hurt." Natalya got up, and took the gun from Alfred. She hung the knapsack from the back of the chair, and sat down in it. She pulled out the sides of the gun, and revert it to its original form. "You used up all the bullets, _vyaradak_."

"Will someone…"

Natalya looked at Matt, who was standing, his hands fisted by his side.

"Will someone _tell me what's going on?!_" he yelled, tears in his eyes. Natalya didn't let her shock show, but to see the quiet, composed, cheerful man terrified and frustrated…it hurt her. And to see the loud, boisterous, hyperactive Alfred in complete and utter shock…the fear she saw in his eyes…

"Mathew, sit"—

"I will _not_ sit down!" Matt yelled at Eliza, who cringed and drew back. "Someone will"—

"Alfred was possessed."

Matt stopped mid tirade and looked at Natalya, who had spoken. She looked at him with her peculiar blue eyes, her look cutting through his frustration and anguish and striking his heart.

"Johnny Doe's spirit within Alfred managed to take over his mind for some time. And…how do I explain this?" Natalya thought out loud, frowning at her lap. "I'm assuming that Johnny Doe's spirit is what remained within Alfred. Doe had summoned the demon by using his mind, so even though the demon left for its world, a part of it still remains bonded to Doe's spirit, which is now within Alfred." Nat looked back at Matt. "Does that answer your question?"

Matt fell back onto his seat, a look of despair and defeat on his face. Natalya had a feeling that there was a lot more going on in his mind that he was letting out, and it was going to burst out of one these days. Nat just hoped that by then, she knew how to handle such an outburst from him.

"You…were there. With me."

Nat turned to Alfred. The shock was still on his face, but he didn't look so lost anymore.

"How did you get in there? With me?" he asked her.

Nat frowned. She wasn't sure, but… "I had hosted both the demon as well as Doe's spirit within me once. Maybe that's how I could get to you."

"If that is true," Katyusha said, and everyone turned to her, "then you are the only one who can help him in such a situation."

Nat gritted her teeth. Such a scenario did…not appeal to her. But, there was nothing she could do. She sighed, and got up. She turned to Katyusha. "I'm taking the younger brother with me," she said, speaking in their common language. "The others and the Reserve are all yours."

Katyusha looked at her patiently. "Was it bad?"

"He was terrified," the words shuddered out of Nat. "The demon isn't as strong as when I fought it before. It only went behind him because it didn't know what was going on. That's not to say the demon is docile. But the demon, too, doesn't like where it is or what is going on. Anyways," Nat sighed. "I leave them to you."

Nat had walked up to Matt when Katyusha asked, "Why the younger brother?"

Nat turned around, and smiled at Katyusha, her eyes filled with such sadness that Katyusha wanted to comfort the girl, to hug her, to hold her close.

"He looks just like me when I came here."

Katyusha watched as Nat roused Matt, and left the room with him. It had been so long ago, or at least it seemed so long ago, when Natalya had sat before her. She was right. She had had the same look on her face. Terrified, shocked, ready to burst at the seams, but willing to fight to the death.

Katyusha sighed, and rose. Gilbert and Eliza looked up at her, while Alfred's gaze was still rooted to the floor. Quietly, she said, "I promise to tell you what is going on in great detail. But, now, I need to tend to the boy. I request you to kindly leave us alone."

Eliza reacted first. She got up, grabbed Gilbert by the arm, and dragged him out of the room before he could say anything in response.

"_Syn_?" She got on her knees, and took his face in her hands. Slowly, his gaze travelled up, and met her eyes. He looked lost, confused, scared.

"It's alright. You're safe now," she whispered. His blue eyes searched hers, desperately wanting to know the truth in those words.

"I…I was…so…"

"I know. It's okay." Her thumbs stroked the side of his face in an effort to calm him down. "You're safe."

He lowered his head, sank into the support of her arms, into the comfort of her palms.

"She…saved me."

Katyusha smiled at him. "She would."

"I thought…she didn't like me."

Katyusha sat back on the floor, and laughed. "Oh, she gives that impression to everyone. Once she trusts you, she will be…lot easier to deal with."

Alfred smiled the best he could at the woman. He couldn't say why, but he trusted her – maybe because she could understand without knowing the facts, by just looking at his face. "What happened to me?" he asked when he couldn't keep up the smile any longer.

Katyusha's smile changed from amused to comforting. "I have a faint idea. But I need you to help me."

Alfred trusted this woman, trusted her words. "How?"

"Tell me what happened."

* * *

"Where are we?"

"A quiet spot where no one will annoy me."

Matt chuckled at Nat's intonation. "It's been quite…a couple of days, huh?"

She gave a soft grunt, and sat down next to him.

"Listen…I'm sorry for the way I behaved earlier. I…I could have – I'm sorry," he sighed, looking at the ground. At the sound of a chuckle, he looked up, to see a faint smile on Natalya's lips. After seeing her scowl for so long, to see her smile was…something rare.

"You were…distraught."

Matt sighed. "Yes. Yes, I was distraught."

"There is something you are not saying."

Matt looked at her. "Pardon?"

"You are keeping some thoughts to yourself. They are hurting you, _dy?_"

Matt had come to understand that _dy_ meant yes. He didn't…he sighed. "Yes."

Natalya sighed, and looked around. "This is where I come whenever I need some peace and quiet," she said. Matt looked at her, and she turned to look at him. "When I first came here, I had…problems that I couldn't deal with. Most people who work here are born within the temple. Our religion allows priests and priestesses to marry. In the morning, the children attend normal school. In the evening, the children attend the temple discourse. At the age of eighteen till twenty, they are given time to decide whether they want to work in the temple as a priest or a priestess, or they want to do something else."

"So, you have a choice," Matt said.

Nat nodded. Matt noticed the smile hadn't left her face, and wondered exactly how much she must love this place. "When I came here, I didn't attend both," she said with a chuckle. "I would…what is that phrase?"

"…Play hooky?" Matt supplied.

"_Dy_, play hooky. That's when I found this place. But there was already someone here when I came. He had brought me here, actually," Natalya said, "and he helped me get answers to my problems." Nat sighed, and the faraway look in her eyes, the smile on her face faded away. "There is a confession room every two floors of the Academia buildings. I'll take you there, if you want to."

"…A confession room?"

"Something similar to what you Christians have. You will understand better if you go there. Whatever you say there you will never hear of again. It is guaranteed."

"B-But…why?"

"You are in pain. Whatever thoughts are giving you this pain, you need to let them go before you hurt someone else without meaning to," Natalya said. Somehow, whenever she looked at him, he felt as though some power in her eyes cut through the haze around his mind. Everything she said always made sense. "Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I feel you are angry at your brother."

Matt was taken aback. "H-How did you…?"

Nat sighed, and turned to him. "You may have your reasons, all good ones. But your brother needs your support right now. He is lost, too."

"I know. Which is why I…I'm trying."

Nat understood that he was trying to keep his emotions in check, but… "Supressing your feelings isn't going to help anyone. You must accept your feelings, and face them. It is only when you accept the sun in the sky that you can make hay."

Matt blinked. He'd never heard of that one before, but it seemed to make sense. "These confession rooms…they will give me answers?"

Natalya shook her head. "No one has the answers to your problems. You alone have the answers to your problems. They will guide you, show you where to look for your answers. "

The two of them remained silent. Natalya looked at the swishing of the branches in the wind, the graceful dance of the leaves in the breeze, trying to ignore the tumultuous emotions rampaging right next to her. Finally, when she couldn't lie to herself any further, she gave a small sigh which was swallowed by the breeze, and shifted a little away from him.

She grabbed his head, and ignoring his squeak of surprise, brought it down on her lap.

At once, she felt her pants soaking in his tears. The _idyjot _couldn't wait until they had reached the confessions room. She sighed.

"As soon as I see someone, I'm going to drop your head like a hot potato," she warned him, and sighed as he buried his face into her lap and wept. She slowly stroked his hair with one hand, and rested the other against the top of his head.

She knew dumping him on the ground was an empty threat – she'd taken him to her spot, the most isolated place in the temple. The only other person who knew about this place had once held her like this in the same way, stroking her head while she cried into his lap. And now…Natalya sighed. He would have wanted her to help Mathew, just the way he had helped her in her time of need. And she would honour his ideals and do what he, her mentor and best friend, would have done.

"But…for now, I'll be here for you."

* * *

**A/T: And...that's another chapter. I was getting a bit impatient with the lack of action, so...I didn't want to write the chapter unless I could put some action into it. And once the idea struck me, I couldn't stop writing it.**

**Next chapter, the five of them are going to dive into the thick of things...that's going to be fun. I love road trips! :-) Hopefully, I'll be able to introduce more characters. The more the merrier!**

**Well, let's see how things work out, then.**

**See you next time!**

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

**R. K. Iris.**

**People, I'm really sorry for the late update. I'd given my laptop for servicing, and it turns out that there something wrong with the mother board. It's going to take an indefinite amount of time to fix. I assure you I'm working on the subsequent chapters, and will try to upload them as soon as possible. I wanted to do a once-in-three-days upload, but it doesn't seem like it's going to happen for a while. So please bear with me, and my deepest apologies to all of you waiting for this and the following chapters.**


	7. On the Road

**Disclaimer: Don't own Hetalia. The story of this fanfic is all mine, though.**

**Sorry for the wait. The'o' key of my laptop's keyboard stopped working, so I had to copy paste all the 'o's. Then I got a new wireless keyboard, which I'm currently using to type from. I'm sorry for the delay.**

* * *

Chapter 7

* * *

_Idyjoty –_ Bel – idiots

_Ŭbliudki –_ Bel – b*****ds

_Dy –_ Bel – yes

_Mon amour – _Fre – my darling

_Frau – _Ger – woman

_Keshi_ – dual natured; name of the specially handcrafted guns

_Čort – _Bel – Damn

* * *

Natalya took the red and brown bag from Katyusha. "These are the idols?"

Katyusha ndded. "I've put the map inside as well."

"Do you need a hand with that?"

The two of them looked at the approaching Mathew. "If you wouldn't mind," Katyusha said sweetly. Nat just wordlessly and expressionlessly handed him the bag.

Matt winced, not expecting the bag to be so heavy. "What is this?"

"Those are the idols I spoke to you about."

"Oh," Matt looked up. "The idols of the nine celestial bodies?"

Katyusha nodded. "And the map is inside the bag as well. I have marked the places where you must keep the idols, as well as the order in which you must keep them."

Matt nodded. "Priestess, where is the car?"

Nat pointed in the direction, and with a cheerful smile at both of them, he went towards the car.

"That smile hurts my eyes," Nat said, continuing to speak in their common tongue.

Katyusha laughed. "My darling, you can be a lot more approachable. You will be with them for the next couple of weeks."

"I murdered their father." Nat turned away from looking at Matt's receding figure to Katyusha. "He might have birthed only two of them, but to all four, he was their father."

"Natalya, you were doing your duty."

Natalya shook her head slowly. "If I'd only been doing it for duty's sake, I wouldn't even be bothered. I did it for revenge also. The moment I saw the sorrow in their eyes, I had to admit it." Nat stopped talking, and mentally shook herself. "But enough of that. Are you sure this will work?"

"Natalya, we have gone through the passages related to the purple lotus contract symbol. Whatever little is there says that it is the summoning symbol of a family of powerful warrior demons in the third Realm. Since the demon has gone back, they will realise that their brethren is in pain, because a part of him or her still resides in this Realm. They will try to come here, and they will try to kill Alfred to get that part out, but they will still be unsuccessful."

"We need to separate Doe from the demon first."

Katyusha nodded. "By keeping the idols in place, we will prevent any other entity from entering this Realm. You have as long as six months, which is the prescribed limit. You will have to set the idols in place before the entities from other Realm, the demon's Realm catch on."

Nat sighed. "So, basically, I am paying for my actions."

Katyusha shook her head. "Natalya. You're preventing the world from paying for Alfred Jones Sr.'s actions. These idols are preventing entry into our Realm from the outside, but whatever that man has planned will still be carried out, as long as part of the demon resides within Alfred. You need to separate Doe and the demon before his actions reap their fruits through Alfred."

Nat's frown deepened. "I'm trying to stop something which I know nothing of, which also could disturb the harmony of the twelve Realms, if not destroy all of us."

"I'm sorry I'm placing such a burden on you."

"It's okay," Nat said nonchalantly, picking up her bag. "It's just about as much trouble you had to face raising me up."

Katyusha laughed. "You know that's not true."

"I might not be able to pay you and _him _back for everything. But I won't stop trying," Nat said, and bowed before her, touching her feet. Katyusha placed her hand on Nat's head, and Nat rose. "I'll try to do my best."

Katyusha smiled at her. "That's all you need to do."

Nat nodded, and began walking towards the car. Katyusha's heart cringed, just as it did every time she had to watch one of her priests or priestesses walk away. She knew that they were all warriors, that their battles lay with creatures far superior and completely unknown to them. She remembered the incidents prior to her becoming the Head Priestess, and smiled. They had told her to forget about the post, or try for one of the teaching disciplines, instead of the warrior disciplines. But for all her kindness and sweetness, Katyusha had been stubborn as a mule.

"We know you, Katyusha!" they had tried to explain. "You'll just burst into tears every time one of the warrior priests or priestesses goes off to fulfil their duty! It is out of your kindness, but, to a warrior, such a thought or action could mean death!"

She knew she would cry – in fact, she had secretly cried during the first couple of missions after becoming Head Priestess. They knew it, too, and when things had drawn to a stalemate, _he _had walked into the room.

"Only compassion can heal a wounded heart," he had said. "The heart of another hardened warrior can never refresh the minds of the battle weary. If there will be anything to come to for us priests, it will be her heart. Nothing else. So, consider it."

Katyusha smiled as she watched Nat's silver braid swish from one hip to another. Katyusha saw so much of him in Nat, things that even Nat couldn't herself see. He wasn't her father, but might have been, considering the role he had played in Nat's life.

Katyusha closed her eyes, and silently prayed for the strength he had passed onto Natalya.

"Umm…"

Katyusha opened her eyes, and turned around to see Alfred. She smiled at him. "I have something for you," she said.

Alfred, who was about to say something, closed his mouth and frowned. "Hmm?"

Katyusha's hand sifted through the contents of her pocket, and brought out a brown-and-green bracelet. She took his hand, and tied it around his wrist. "It will keep you safe. Natalya is wearing a similar one on her arm as well. You can call out to her when you are in danger. She will respond to your call."

He nodded.

"Are you wearing the guns?"

"The little crossbows?"

Katyusha nodded. "They were designed by our predecessors, in order to protect ourselves from hostile creatures from other Realms. I will warn you; those creatures may also possess weapons which will do more than mere bodily damage. So be careful."

He nodded. "Th…Than"—

"Go. And be safe."

He blinked at Katyusha's warm smile. He smiled back, and walked away.

"Alfred?"

He turned around.

Katyusha's eyes twinkled with amusement. "The car is that way."

* * *

"Everyone's here," Eliza noted as soon as she sighted Alfred approaching them.

"Those priest clothes were really comfortable," Gilbert muttered as he took stock of his black shirt and camouflage pants.

Eliza hummed in agreement. "We can't wear them outside the temple, though. Only priests and priestesses can. We are neither."

"And if you want to become a priest to wear them," Nat said drily, "you'll still have to wait for sixteen years to be able to wear them outside."

Matt frowned, and turned to Nat. "But everyone in the temple wears them."

Nat looked at Matt. "Only those who finish their education are allowed to wear what you wore and roam around outside. Those who haven't finished their education wear saffron shirts and dark green pants when they leave the temple." She acknowledged Alfred with a nod, and opened the door of the car. "Let's go."

Matt went around the front of the car, and sat down next to her.

"Do you know how to read map?"

He nodded. "Where is…?"

She leaned over, and pulled it out of the bag at his feet, his braid falling over his leg in the process. When she gave him the map, she conveniently ignored the slight tinge of pink on his cheeks and looked out. And then she noticed something.

She stuck her head out of the window. "Get in," she said curtly to Gilbert. She watched Gilbert exchange a worried look with Eliza, and she knew something was wrong.

"Get in, or you can wear the priest drab for the rest of your life," she said drily.

"It isn't that," Eliza said, and Nat picked up on a tinge of shame in her voice. "It's just…"

It finally flashed to Nat. She put her head back in, and turned to Matt. "Does your brother know how to read maps?"

Matt frowned. "He does. Why?"

"Those _idyjoty_ refuse to sit with him. Go sit at the back."

Understanding dawned on his face. His lips compressed into a thin line, and he gave her a curt nod. He opened the door and got out, leaving the map on the seat. Moments later, Alfred got in, not even looking in her direction. His visage was hardened, but she could see the hurt in his eyes. The three of them filed into the seats behind her, and she took the time to give Elizabeta and Gilbert a cold look which told them exactly how ashamed of them she was.

Without another word, she revved the engine, and drove away from the temple.

* * *

Nat rolled the car to a stop, and killed the engine. She turned to Matt, the only person in the car she wanted to actually speak to.

"Go and stretch your legs. We aren't reaching Kilorbu until nightfall." Without sparing anyone else a glance, she got out of the car.

She walked towards the line of trees, taking out her handbook from her pant pocket – she'd removed her coat during the long drive. They were moving towards the coast, and it progressively grew hotter. The plan was to reach the shrine in Kilorbu and settle there for the night, before finding the exact spot Katyusha had marked out on the map. She didn't have any problems with the accommodation – no one would say 'no' to one of the senior-most priestesses of a warrior discipline, at least not any religious group or infrastructure.

She looked into her handbook. The symbol Katyusha was trying to achieve through the placement of the idols was a standard barrier symbol – simple yet powerful. But it wasn't specific, and they would have a lot of trouble on their hands if the demon's brethren could make it through the barrier.

_Even worse, if the_ ŭbliudki _made it here before we put up that barrier_, Nat thought to herself, and continued to study her handbook.

All of a sudden, pain shot through her entire arm. Grimacing, she rolled her sleeves up, to see that the amulet around her upper arm had tightened.

_Alfred._

* * *

_Fucking hell. I was back here again._

_This time, I couldn't feel the demon, so that was a good thing. Neither could I feel my father's presence…not very sure how to feel about that._

_I slowly walked forward_ – _actually, there seemed to be no particular direction in here. There was a light burning some distance from me, and I walked towards it._

_"_Alfred!_"_

_Relief flushed through me when I heard her voice. "_Natalya_."_

_She walked, and stood next to me. "_Did anything happen?"

_I shook my head. I couldn't look away from her. I was so _relieved._ "_Nothing."

_She grunted softly. "_Do you have the _keshi_ with you? The guns?"

_I nodded, and realised she couldn't see me. "_I have them with me."

"It's called _keshi_ because it has two forms. That is the literal meaning of _keshi_ – dual formed. The crossbow form is useful for healing and calming down spirits. The _Jenno_, or gun, since that's easier, it used to fight spirits. Do you understand?"

"…Kind of."

_Natalya sighed, but I couldn't help it. I looked at the light before us. "_What's that?_"_

_"_Some memory of Doe's. Every time you come in here, Doe's memories will be shown to you," _Natalya said. I heard her move towards the light. Gulping, I took a deep breath and moved forward. I was the hero, and the hero was always the first to face an adventure!_

_I walked past her, and the light grew larger and larger, until I stumbled into a field. I felt a lack of solid ground under me, and I fell._

_Well, almost. A force grabbed my collar and yanked me up. I felt my feet touching ground, and I looked back._

_Natalya let go of my collar, and continued to don what I thought to be her default look on her face – disgust, condescension, and something very similar to apathy. Or she looked like there was a lemon stationed permanently in her mouth._

_"_Well, wasn't that surprising?_" I asked, laughing loudly. She didn't look at me – instead she looked straight below, her frown full of curiosity and the slightest bit of confusion. Curious myself, I looked in the direction of her gaze._

_It was that woman again._

_"_You know her?_"_

_I must have thought out loud. "_I…don't know exactly who she is. I've seen her…in here._"_

_Natalya turned from me back to the woman. She was seated underneath a tree which seemed to be atop a hill. There was a blanket spread out, and she was seated on it, alone._

_"_I think I know who she is,_" Nat said._

_"_You do?_"_

_She hummed. "Dy._ But it doesn't seem like we can join her."

_I looked down. It was a strange sight. Natalya and I were atop a cliff overlooking the hill, but the cliff seemed to be disjoined from the hill itself. My gaze downwards showed me nothing by an abyss of white, an abyss deeper than any dark, pitch black gorge._

_My head began spinning. I felt her grip my arm, and she pulled me next to her. "_Get a hold of yourself_," she whispered, but for some reason, her voice wasn't as harsh as usual._

_My vision cleared, and I saw a figure approaching the lone woman. It was the tall man with a goatee._

_"_Have seen him somewhere before, too?"_ Natalya whispered into my ear._

_ Her breath fell hot against my ear. I swallowed a shudder. "_She was dancing with him. It was just before you came."

"The last time?"

_I hummed my agreement. Somehow, their voices rang clearly in my ear, even though they were so far away._

_"_Why are you here?" _she asked him._

"For you and you alone, _mon amour_. There is no other reason for me to be anywhere if you aren't there."

_She blushed._ "Stop embarrassing me, Francis."

"When is he going to come?"

"In an hour. Another meeting came up."

_The man she called Francis sat down next to her. He gently caressed her cheek, and she leaned into him. Natalya spoke quietly next to me._

_"_That's Francis Bonnefoy, and that's Alice Kirkland Jones. She's your…stepmother."

"That's old hag Alice?"_ I squeaked. No freaking way!_

"That's her a lot younger, yes," _Natalya said silently, and continued to watch._

_So did I, turning back to them. She was leaning into Francis (Mr Goatee guy), her bushy brows drawn together, her face full of emotions I could relate to – sorrow, anger and frustration. Francis stroked her hair._

_"Mon amour_, come with me,"_ he whispered. I say he whispered because, somehow, even with the distance between us, I could hear his whisper as if he was whispering into my ear. Eww._

_"_Francis, I…I want to."

"But you can't," _he said, smiling sadly at her. His eyes were full of love and pain._

_Her green eyes were swimming with tears. "_I can't."

_Holy cow…old hag Alice and goatee dude? I mean, I could see the resemblance between this pretty lady and the crazy old bat, but I never though…_

_I felt his presence all of a sudden. I felt Natalya's focus shift at the same time as I felt his presence. I turned, and I saw him standing on an adjacent hill. Wherever the hell we were, distance didn't seem to make a difference – we could have been miles apart, but I could see all their faces, hear all their voices as if they were right before me._

_"_That man…"

"That's your father." _I must have looked confused, for she continued,_ "If he was as old as you are now, you could have passed off as twins. You look just like he did."

_That did not sit too well with me, but… It suddenly occurred to me. MY dad could see old hag Alice and goatee dude._

_Even as I turned around, the solid hill before me swayed like mist and disappeared, and Natalya and I were left in the darkness again._

_"_Wha…What's going on?_"_

_Natalya grabbed hold of my arm. Her grip was firm and reassuring. "_We're going back."

* * *

Both of them opened their eyes at the same time, but the expressions in their eyes were completely different – Natalya's eyes were calm and collected, whereas Alfred's eyes were wild with fear and confusion. His eyes found Nat's, and the calm in her eyes flooded through him.

"Are you guys…?" Matt trailed off as he watched the two of them silently communicate with each other. Alfred's fear completely vanished, and Natalya looked up at Matt.

"Can you tell us something about Alice Kirkland and Francis Bonnefoy?" she asked him, and looked at Elizabeta and Gilbert, extending her question to the two of them as well.

They all frowned. "You mean the two of them separately or the two of them togeth—ouch!" Gilbert cried out when Eliza whacked him in the head. "What's your problem, _frau_?"

"We just saw Bonnefoy asking the old hag to leave dad, and dad standing there and watching them," Alfred said quickly and quietly. As Nat watched the expressions across their faces change, all she could think was, _Well, that was well phrased._

"Well…" Eliza hummed, thinking.

"Alice Kirkland and my father were married when we were just entering our teens," Matt said, and Nat turned from the warring duo to him. "Dad divorced Alice, and from what Alfred says, it must have been because of Mr Bonnefoy. The divorce was done very quietly, and the two of them never spoke about it to anyone."

"Francis…he was Mr Jones' business associate and advisor," Eliza offered, and everyone turned to her. Everyone except Gilbert, Nat noticed. "He had made a name for himself in agriculture and cuisine, and Mr Jones wanted to expand business in those fields. That's how they met."

Nat frowned. Something was not adding up, but… "Let's get moving. We need to reach Kilobru before midnight, at least." She turned, and walked towards the driver's seat of the car. By the time she'd strapped in, Alfred was seated by her side, and the other three were in the back of the car.

"If you get hungry, there is food underneath your seats," she said, facing them. "I shall not stop, so that will be your dinner. Don't spill anything," she warned, and turned back, happy that they'd all felt icy fingers of fear thrumming down their spines when she'd looked at them. When she turned to Alfred, she saw him grinning, staring outside the window. He turned to her, his grin somehow managing to grow larger, and winked at her. Nat gave him the death glare, but it didn't seem to have any effect on him. With a roll of her eyes, she revved the engine, and drove away.

She felt him turn after a while to look at her, and his grin came back on his face. Nat sighed slowly, knowing that he'd caught her smiling.

_Čort__,_ but his grin was infectious.

* * *

**A/T: Once again, I'm very sorry for the delay. There's been a lot going on at home, lately - my new college admissions, my dad's new calling, my mom's job uncertainty, all of that, so...yes, it's been a pain. And then, my laptop had to go and screw itself up, and now, that laptop's 'o' isn't working, so I had to wait until the wireless keyboard came. And we're back on track!**

**The scenes where Alfred and Natalya see Johnny Doe's memories are in italics, with their speech in normal font. Just clearing that up.**

**And, then, there's the mysterious 'him' Nat and Katyusha talks about. Both ladies have mentioned the same 'him' in previous chapters. And this guy is pivotal to the entire story - he's the reason any of this is happening at all. You'll get to know about him soon enough.**

**Well, that's another chapter. I'll see you next time!**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

**R. K. Iris.**


	8. The House of Snow

**Do not own Hetalia or the Hetalia Characters. Story's all mine.**

* * *

**Chapter 8**

* * *

_Sie dimwitted bauer – _Ger – You dim-witted peasant

_Maya Orjena – _Head Priest

_Bruder – _Ger – Brother

_Scazmár – _Hun – Ass

_Grihanā –_ Gathering Place

_Dziaŭčyna – _Bel – Girl

_Grihanyā – _Resting place

* * *

"Get down."

All of them looked at Natalya, and got out of the car without a word. Nat drove towards the shed, her brain whizzing with thoughts and theories.

~o~

"What happened, after the divorce?"

Elizabeta, Gilbert and Mathew turned to Alfred, who'd asked the question.

"Did the goatee guy and the old hag get together?"

"They didn't," Mathew said, frowning. "Which is strange, because everything that transpired was for that reason. It is very strange."

While Mathew kept pondering over it, Alfred noticed the conflict on Gilbert and Eliza's faces. He frowned. There was something more to it, which the crazy duo knew, but his own brother didn't. That sparked a question in his mind. "Where were you?"

Matt shook out of his reverie, and turned to Alfred. "Huh?"

"During dad's and old hag Alice's divorce…where were you?"

Matt frowned. "I was with Mr Bonnefoy. Father had asked him to teach me about agriculture and the way of life lead by people in Mr Bonnefoy's country."

"You were there well beyond the divorce," Eliza said, and Matt hummed his agreement. "Almost a year or more, I think."

Matt nodded. "A year and a couple of months," he corrected, and Eliza nodded as well. But Gilbert…

"Stop staring at the awesome me, _sie dimwitted bauer_. Or am I too awesome for you to stop looking at.

"Brother, you're staring really hard," Matt whispered, and Alfred caught himself.

"Maybe," Nat said as she joined them, "the blinding glare of the lies in your words is making him squint at you."

As Eliza chuckled and Matt stifled his laugh, Nat looked at the glaring Gilbert with a 'What?' expression on her face. She didn't stop by them, but continued to walk, and the others simply followed.

Alfred realised that the temples dedicated to Natalya's religion were nothing like any other places of worship. The actual place of worship was small as compared to the rest of the establishment, which wasn't to say that it was a small shack. The prayer room where the idol was installed was beautiful, with lots of intricate detailing, paintings and writings just like on the back of Alfred's _keshi_, or the gun having dual forms. From outside, the idol room or prayer room was clearly distinguished from the rest of the buildings by its large, tapering roof, full of sculptures of various deities. The rest of the establishment comprised of a school, a large ground used for martial arts training or for assembling, hostels for stay, a large mess area and kitchen, and small shops which sold items necessary for worship and for the functioning of the infrastructure, all within the common compound wall. Alfred also had heard the mooing of cows and the voices of other cattle, so he assumed that there was a cattle shed, probably for milk and meat, but Alfred was yet to see Natalya eat any meat.

They knocked on the large doors of the temples and Alfred noticed that there were writings and drawings on the huge wooden doors as well. The doors swung open, and a clean shaven boy, dressed in saffron and green stood at the door.

"Tell your _maya orjena_ that Natalya Arlovskaya from the House of Wheel requests shelter for herself and her…companions," Nat said curtly. The boy, visibly intimidated, nodded and fled.

"Will they say no?" Elizabeta asked.

"No," was all Nat offered, and all of them stood in an uneasy silence until a loud shout jolted them right out of it.

"Get out of my temple or I'll shoot you!"

Alfred's hands inched towards his _keshi_, but Nat's face, visible in the torch light, remained undaunted.

"_Bruder_! They come from the House of Wheel!" a soft female voice followed the male voice.

From the entrance, they watched as the entire temple started turning on the lights, until the entire area got so bright it might as well have been day.

A short young man with choppy, bob cut length hair appeared, with a scowl darkening his face. With a rifle in his hands and his finger at the trigger, the man looked less and less like a priest and more and more like an angry hitman.

His scowl lightened when he saw Nat. "Oh, it's you, Natalya Arlovskaya." His scowl darkened as soon as his eyes left her face and turned to the others. His rifle came swinging up, and he glared at them down the barrel. "And who are you all?" he growled.

Gilbert felt his albino self grow paler, while Matt felt faint. Alfred and Eliza, on the other hand, had their fingers on the handles of their _keshi_ and frying pan respectively, frowns on their faces, as dark as the one on his face.

"They are my companions," Nat said after letting the tense silence swell. At once, the gun-toting priest's scowl vanished. "Oh, why didn't you say so?" he asked, and swung his gun down.

"Yes, why didn't you?" Gilbert nearly shrieked, while Alfred caught hold of his brother, saying, "Woah, broski, chill out."

Nat made a slight shrugging movement, and walked into the temple. The other four followed behind her – Alfred was helping Matt stay upright, while Eliza was restraining Gilbert to prevent him from doing some kind of damage to Natalya, although, in Eliza's head, she was stopping Gilbert from getting his _szamár_ royally whipped, as Alfred would have put it.

"How surprising to find you here," Nat told the trigger happy priest.

He still had a slight scowl on his face, but his gun was safely slung across his back. "I'm here for inspection. You have met Lili."

Nat bowed to the female lookalike of the scowling priest, who bowed in return. "Nice to see you are doing well, Lili."

The priestess, Lili, smiled. "It's a pleasure to have you here, Natalya."

"That goes without saying," the scowling priest said, "but what about these 'companions' of yours?" he said as his frightening gaze passed over the four of them.

"I shall tell you." Nat's hand dug through her pocket, and she procured a letter. "It's from Katyusha. We'll be staying for the night, at the most for two days."

The man's scowl reduced as he received the letter. "How is she?"

"As usual. She is fine," Nat replied.

Lili turned to the four others, and smiled. "You must be tired. Come with me."

Gratefully, they followed her, while Nat stayed back with the man.

As he studied the contents of the letter, he quietly said, "It isn't like you to be travelling with companions. At most, you used to only travel with _him._ And after he…" the man looked up. "I'm sorry for bringing up the past, but it surprises me that you're travelling with people. And those two look just like…"

Nat nodded. "Yes, I know. I didn't have a choice, Basch. I've got myself into a bigger mess than I'd anticipated, and I need their help."

Basch Zwingli, Head Priest or _Maya Orjena_ of the House of Snow, pocketed the letter. "Her letter doesn't say much, as usual," he said, and took a good look at her face. "I'll have your room readied. Once you freshen up, meet me in the _Grihanā_."

Nat nodded. She hadn't expected anything less from—

"And bring your companions with you."

Nat smiled slightly. "Give us half an hour." And she walked towards the hostels. Honestly, the level of paranoia this man underwent when strangers had to stay in his temple…But she didn't blame him. The House of Snow, whose main temple resided in a small mountain village in Hima, had seen enough unrest and trouble, and Zwingli's caution was what had helped him swing the House away from its troubles. What he was doing in a sister establishment so far away from home she didn't know – the House Head Representatives stayed in the main temple and rarely visited the sister or branch establishments, other temples which were affiliated to a House. But whatever was his reason, she had her own reasons that needed her attention.

And she had a feeling that he wouldn't be too happy with her reasons.

* * *

"You called that man _bruder_, _ja_?" Gilbert asked Lili.

She looked up at him, and smiled. "Yes, he is my _bruder_, although we are not related by blood."

"Could've fooled me," Alfred said.

Her smile widened as she turned to Alfred. "A lot of people say that."

"What's his name?" Eliza asked.

"Oh, I am sorry. He is Basch Zwingli, and I am Lili Zwingli."

Gilbert stopped muttering, and frowned thoughtfully. "That name sounds familiar."

"He is said to be the youngest person to be appointed as the head priest of a House," Lili said with a quiet pride in her voice.

Gilbert nodded, but the frown on his face clearly showed that Basch Zwingli's age wasn't what he had in mind. He couldn't remember what it was, though.

She stopped before a door. "Here are the rooms. The…Natalya, what are you doing here?"

"I'll take a room with Elizabeta," she said. "These three can take my room."

Lili looked shocked. "Your room? But"—

"I'll talk to Basch. He'll be alright with it."

"T-This is very…sudden," Lili said, and Alfred had a feeling anyone else would giggle nervously to hide their confusion. Lili had a frown on her face, as if there was something she was not able to see, but knew was there within her reach. Alfred understood her plight, not of what was going on, but how she was feeling.

But she seemed to take it in her stride quickly enough. "Alright." She turned to the men. "Please follow me."

Eliza watched as the four of them walked away, and turned around to see that Nat had left the room door open behind her. Eliza followed her into the room. The room was a bit bigger than the one they'd stayed in in the previous temple, but this room, unlike the latter, was made to hold two people. Nat dropped her bag next to one of the beds, and sat down on the bed. In the quiet of the room, Eliza heard her soft sigh.

"This temple is a lot smaller than yours," Eliza said, sitting opposite Natalya on the other bed.

"This isn't the main temple. This is a sister temple to the House of Snow. The actual temple is in Hima."

"The small country in the mountains?"

"_Dy. _They must be here on inspection, or some occasion."

Eliza just hummed her acknowledgement, and Nat continued to stare at the floor. With a louder sigh, Nat flung herself across the length of the bed, draping her arm over her eyes.

Eliza just let the seconds tick away, and was surprised when Nat started talking.

"I'm not accustomed to travelling with others. It's been a long time since I've had a travelling companion, and even then, it was never such a big…not with so many people."

"You don't have to say anything. You must be very stressed out."

Nat chuckled, and the sound was a harsh one. She was quiet for a while, and then she said, "You deserve your answers. Not just to the questions you came with, but also for what is going on here." With a grunt, Nat swung upright. "I will tell them later, but I shall explain to you first."

"About what, exactly?"

"About this place," Nat clarified. "Basch Zwingli is the Head Priest of this House, just as Katyusha is for the House of Wheel. His younger sister is Lili Zwingli. She is his Deputy, or his right arm. They were made siblings by a simple ritual, but before that, he had rescued her from a sorry fate. Nobody talks about it anymore, but nobody has forgotten how strong that _dziaŭčyna_ is. They, like the House of Wheel, follow a martial arts discipline. Basch carries his gun around for a different reason. He's had to protect this House from various people, and, even now, he doesn't trust people he doesn't know. If you feel like you are being followed, don't think too much about it. He's just looking after what he fought so hard to keep safe."

"That explains…a lot," Eliza said, grateful that the grand picture was finally being unveiled, even if it was in steps. But… "Lili…why was she so surprised when you told her that the men could take your room?"

"I…ah…never mind," Nat said, and got up. She walked towards the door within the room, and when she opened it, Eliza understood it opened to a bathroom. Nat paused at the door, with a tinge of embarrassment on her face, and spoke to Eliza without looking at her face. "There are rooms reserved specifically for the Head Representatives, such as the Head Priests and Priestesses, their Deputies, and their students, who visit the temple. My room is one such room." Before Eliza could process everything, Nat disappeared into the bathroom, and closed the door quickly behind her.

As Eliza processed Nat's words, she realised something.

There was more to Natalya Arlovskaya than anybody knew.

* * *

"Oh. My. Freaking. God."

Gilbert was so shocked he couldn't even bring out a squeak like Alfred had managed to; his jaw just dropped. Matt, who was carrying the bags, dropped them.

Lili looked at them, confused. "Why are you being blasphemous?"

"Are you serious?" Alfred freaked.

"How does Natalya get such a room?" Matt said, having regained his speech due to his training as the successor of the most powerful man in the world.

"She is the Deputy of the House of Wheel," Lili said. "Didn't you know that?"

They just continued to stare the room. After having seen the tiny room where one could just make do, the room Lili was standing before them was…too much. To begin with, it was _huge._ Not only could the three of them fit in easily, another ten to twenty people could join them, and there would be no problem of space. The room was very well lit, making it look even larger than it already was. In the middle of the room, there was a water filled cavity, from which canals radiated like spokes, connected by an outer circular canal, forming a water-filled wheel. A circular disc of flooring projected out of the middle of the huge water cavity.

There were rows of plants everywhere, and huge shelves, lined with voluminous books, took up a large part of the room. At another corner was a large raised circular platform, which consisted of a smaller platform towards the far-off end. Diagonally opposite the big mini-library was a wooden structure, which, from the door, nobody could decipher.

The room itself had walls on three sides. A small portion of the fourth side, towards the library, was walled, and the rest of it opened out to a larger corridor.

Lili led the bewildered trio into the room. Alfred realised that the wooden structure was actually a maze-like privacy partitioning between various beds lined up in that portion of them room. Matt saw that the larger corridor outside the semi-walled side was actually a large square shaped corridor, enclosing a garden in the middle. When Matt suck his head out, he saw that there were similar rooms along the four sides of the corridor, and the garden, open and without a roof, looked beautiful bathed in the moonlight.

"Why does she get such a big room?" Alfred whispered, looking around.

"Ma'am, what did you say Priestess Natalya was, again?" Matt asked, tearing his eyes away from the beautiful, moonlit garden.

"She is a Deputy, same as me. She holds the second rank in the House, second only to the Head."

"So she's a freaking important person? Like a VIP?" Alfred squeaked, unable to handle shock after shock.

Lili, unused to their level of noise and boisterousness, maintained the almost constant frown of bewilderment on her face. "Yes. She is a VIP."

While Alfred continued to freak out, punctuating the otherwise silent room with his 'Omigosh', Gilbert tentatively poked at one of the mattresses. "This is soft."

Before Lili could explain, Matt walked past her towards the beds, and gave her a smile. "Let's take what we can, Gilbert." He flung Gilbert's bag to him. "And thank the good Lord for soft beds."

Gilbert flung himself on the bed, and Matt followed suit, while Alfred jumped on the solid floor between the water filled canals, having found himself a new pastime.

"Please freshen up. _Bruder _would like to meet you in half an hour." With that, Lili fled.

"Alfred, come and lie down," Matt said. "These beds are soft." He turned from his brother jumping around gleefully to Gilbert, who had dozed off. Matt removed his glasses, feeling quite sleepy himself, but the cute priestess had said something about meeting that gun toting priest…what was his name…ah, Basch Zwingli in half an hour. He had a feeling he wouldn't get up until morning if he slept now.

He turned to his brother, who seemingly hadn't heard him. Alfred seemed like a small child, getting his now bare feet wet in the crystal clear water. He wondered whether all the rooms had similar symbols. With a frown, he got up, and decided to investigate.

"Alfred, are you coming along?"

"Where to, broski?"

"I want to see the other rooms."

"The other—Oh," Alfred said upon sighting the missing fourth wall and the corridor. He quickly forgot about his new pastime, and followed Matt to go exploring.

The rooms were pretty much the same – huge, with a library and that large circular platform and the wooden privacy maze. But the kind of plants in each room, Matt noticed, as well as the symbols formed by the canals on the floor, changed.

The first room they came across had a diamond shaped cavity, and the canals radiating around it formed a snowflake structure.

"This is the room for this place, I guess," Matt figured as he looked around.

"You can tell with the number of guns there," Alfred deadpanned, and spun on his heel. "Let's get going before he comes back and actually shoots us."

Matt wisely followed Alfred, and they proceeded to explore all the rooms.

The décor in the next room was different. Unlike the orange and red décor of their room, this room's décor was brown. The water cavity was circular, enclosed by a larger triangular shaped symbol whose edges were curved.

"House of…what?" Alfred tried to guess.

"Well, this place is brown, so I guess it's related to soil," Matt hazarded.

"House of Earth?" Alfred offered.

Matt shrugged. "We'll ask Priestess Natalya."

"At least she isn't terrified of us as the cute priestess is."

"She is cute," Matt admitted absent-mindedly. "And Priestess Natalya doesn't seem scared of anything."

Alfred remembered her unwavering gaze, her back to him whenever she fought, and nodded. "I'm sure."

They went to the next room. The décor shifted more to reds, but they couldn't make out much, as the rest of the rooms were not lit. The symbols, however, shined due to the moonlight streaming in.

"This looks like a sun," Alfred deduced as they looked at the next symbol. The water cavity was circular, but the canals around it were curved, and two curves met at a pointed end. Matt nodded, agreeing with Alfred. "They look like flames," he said.

"Why is it called a House? Why not temple?"

Matt shrugged. "I have no clue."

The next symbol was easy – it looked like a leaf, with the circular water cavity in the middle connected to the tapered as well as the rounded end of the leaf with two straight canals. Every symbol had a large water cavity, and water cavity had a solid, dry portion in its centre, and Alfred couldn't figure out what it was doing there.

"Why is that bit of floor there?"

"Alfred, I don't know."

"I'm just thinking out loud, broski. Chill."

Matt just rolled his eyes, and they moved to the next room.

The next symbol resembled a bell, complete with a semi-circular canal at the end representing the striking inner shaft. The symbol after that was bizarrely simple – it was just a water cavity.

"There is no suspense in this one," Alfred grumbled.

"Probably the simplest to make. Must have been happy, making this room," Matt said. "The next one is the last. Let's go."

And when they saw the last one, Alfred said, "This one is another sun."

"I think this one is the sun, and that's got to do with flames," Matt mused.

The symbol was formed by a circular water cavity, encircled by a canal close to the cavity, and from the circular canal emerged alternate long and short rays, looking like a drawing of the sun.

"You know, I really wonder how they got all of this in place," Alfred murmured as he squinted at the tiles of the room. "There are drawings on the floor, Mattie."

Matt squatted down next to Alfred, and the two of them analysed the floor. There was writing on the floor, and drawings and various inscriptions.

"How did they get it down to such detail?" Matt whispered, awed. "This looks impossible."

"It's really cool," Alfred said, his voice carrying as much awe as Matt's did.

Matt slowly rose, rue to remove his eyes from the beauty of the flooring. The importance they gave to aesthetics was astounding. As they walked back to their room, Matt's eyes closely followed the markings on the floor. Even the humble floor of the corridor had inscriptions. Why did they give so much importance to inscriptions and aesthetics? He couldn't –

Matt grunted in surprise as Alfred yanked him back by the collar. "Ei, Alf"—

"You said that room was the last one, right?"

Matt extracted his hoodie from Alfred's grip. "Yes. Priestess Natalya said there were eight disciplines, remember?"

"I do. Then what is this?"

Matt looked in the direction of Alfred's gaze, and his mouth fell open in surprise. There was another room, but it was entirely dark, since the moonlight fell from the same side as the room. Matt could make out the structures – the shelves, the platform, the wooden privacy maze. There was a symbol on the floor, but it was too complicated to make out in the dark.

The two of them were about to step in, when a voice asked them, "What are you doing?"

They both jumped, and turned around, suddenly feeling as if they'd been caught with one hand in the cookie jar. Nat stood there, looking at them through narrowed eyes and raised eyebrows.

"Looking around, Priestess," Alfred said lazily, and Matt caught the change in his brother's tone. Nat's eyes narrowed even further.

"Priestess Natalya, we didn't think it was off limits," Matt explained.

Nat's expression eased as she turned to Matt. "It's not. But the people who are expected to stay in the room wouldn't appreciate others going into their room.

"It's for each of the disciplines, yes?" Matt asked. Nat tilted her head slightly to the left, as if assessing the two of them. Matt resisted the urge to glance at his brother, but he could feel his brother's stance change from how it was when it was just the two of them, to cut-off. Matt drew himself to full height, and looked Natalya in the eye.

She sighed softly, and approached them. Compared to them, she was short, but she carried herself as someone taller, such was her personality. She stood next to them. "Each discipline is called a House. The bigger temples, as well as the main temples, have a space dedicated to the rooms. This is called the Grihanyā, or the place of stay. This garden is the gathering place, or the Grihan ā. If there is ever a meeting of all the Head Priests or Priestesses, and their Deputies, it takes place here. In the middle of the garden, there is a circle of nine large stones. Each large stone has two smaller stones behind it. The stones are for the Head Priestesses and Priests and for their Deputies.

"Each of these rooms is for the different House Representatives, their Deputies and their students. That room," she said, pointing in the direction of the room with the snowflake symbol, "is for the House of Snow." She pointed in the subsequent rooms. "That is for the House of Stone. That is for the House of Fire, House of Grass, House of Bell, House of Sea, and House of Light."

"What about this one?" Alfred asked, pointing at the door. "Which House is it?"

Nat shook her head. "It doesn't belong to any House." She walked towards their room, and looked skywards. "Basch will be here any moment. Come into your room before he gets here."

The two brothers looked at each other, surprised, but decided to follow Nat into the room.

"Where's Eliza?" Matt asked, and Nat pointed towards the shelves.

"What's this floor in the middle of the water for, priestess?" Alfred asked.

Nat turned. "Meditation. It is complicated to explain, easier to show. I shall show you later. Someone wake him up."

They turned to Gilbert, who'd fallen into deep sleep by then.

"Nat, can we stay here?"

Nat looked startled, and turned to Eliza, who had loaded herself to the chin with books and was carrying it to the bed next to Gilbert's. "If you wish."

Eliza settled the books next to the head of the bed, and turned to Nat. "You do not mind me calling you Nat?"

She shook her head and smiled, and Alfred saw traces of sadness in her face. "I do not mind. It's been a long time; that is all." She walked towards the bookshelves, and disappeared behind one. Matt, curious about the books Eliza had gotten along with her, went and sat down before Eliza.

"Priestess Natalya is a Deputy, Eliza," Matt whispered as he glanced at the book she had with her.

"So that's what she is," Eliza said, looking up at Matt. "She implied she was important…so she's a Deputy."

"This is the room for all the important people of the House Priestess Nat comes from."

"That's why it looks so grand," Eliza said, looking around.

"What's this book about?" Matt asked, and the two of them dived into the contents of the book.

~o~

"Ei, Priestess."

Nat looked up, and saw Alfred standing in front of her. His presence filled up the narrow corridor between the bookshelves, and Nat felt like she'd been backed into a wall, even though he stood at a distance from her, and there was enough space for her to squeeze past him and go out.

"What?"

"What's going on?"

"You are going to have to be more specific, Jones."

"This place. That gun carrying priest. And that room. What's all this?"

"This place is a temple, under the House of Snow. Which means they follow the same discipline as the House of Snow, as well as the same rituals. The gun carrying priest is the Head Priest, Basch Zwingli"—

"I know his name. Why is he carrying a gun?"

"His teacher was a Head Priest before. He was murdered by one of his students, who became the successor Head Priest, and threw the entire House into shambles. All sorts of negative incidents began taking place. Basch uncovered the murder and the murderer, made him stand down and was forced to become the Head Priest. He had to undo all the misdeeds by the previous Head  
Priest, and was forced to hunt him down when murders became rampant within the House." She paused, and looked at him straight in the eye. "Did you want to know all that?"

Alfred straightened. "At least you're starting to talk."

Nat narrowed her eyes. "Ask me the right questions, and I'll answer them."

"Why did you kill my father? Or is that a wrong question to ask?"

The answer to Alfred's second question was clear in Nat's expression – she looked like she'd been slapped across the face. Her face lost its shock, and grew dark, and she walked past Alfred. "Move out of my way."

Alfred caught hold of her wrist, and didn't let go when she yanked. Nat spun around and swung her _keshi_ out of the holster, holding it to his chest. "Let go of me."

Alfred didn't look fazed at the presence of the gun. He slowly moved forward, until the barrel was pressing into his chest, his eyes locked with Natalya's the entire time. He placed his other hand on hers, and lowered the keshi, getting no resistance from her the entire time. His hand enveloped hers, cradling it, keeping a firm grip on both her hand and the keshi.

And then he did what she didn't expect at all – he closed the distance between them and lowered his head on her shoulder.

Nat smothered a squeak. First he had to stand so close, with both her hands in his, and now, she could feel his breath on her neck, slow, even and warm.

"I don't really care that you killed the Old man," he murmured, his voice sliding over her skin. Nat bit back a slight shiver. "I'm glad he died before I did in that cage. But he's dead, and I don't give a damn. I'm just tired of not knowing what is going on, Priestess. I don't understand anything. And it hurts. I don't know why, it just does."

Nat unconsciously tilted her head until it nestled next to his, his soft hair pressing against her ear. She understood how he felt, surprisingly. She understood how he felt.

"I'm tired, I'm confused. And I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

Her heart, having had to face so many jolts, jolted another time at his heartfelt whisper. And she felt herself speaking even before she realised it.

"I'll explain it to you, Alfred. I promise."

"Thank you."

And only when he said that did she realise what she had said. She sighed, and gave in to the urge to bury her face in his neck. It was too long since she'd enjoyed the comfort of someone's physical presence close to her, and she'd forgotten how good, how soothing a simple hug could feel.

"Natalya."

Both of them jumped at the sound of Basch Zwingli's voice, and looked at each other, eyes wide with faint confusion. And then, before they knew it, they were both chuckling, foreheads pressed against each other.

"Natalya?"

"I'm here," Nat called out, and took a step away from Alfred. He released her hands, and watched as she turned around and walked out of the maze of bookshelves, her back strong and proud.

He shook his head, and smiled. There was so much to the priestess with incredible blue eyes and silver hair, and he wanted to know everything.

For some reason, that didn't surprise him at all.

* * *

The stones they sat on were actually quite comfortable – they had slight depressions in the middle, and they were large enough for them to sit comfortably on. When Matt had heard Natalya's description, he didn't expect it to be so comfortable.

They all sat in a circle – Nat had told Basch to forget formalities and agree to all of them sitting in the places of the Head Representatives. While Basch agreed, his very demeanour made sure that the five of them left a stone to his right and to Lili's left.

Basch slowly processed all that Nat had filled him up on, no expression passing over his face. He finally looked up, and looked Nat in the eye. "All the places you will be visiting…has Katyusha told them about your…situation?"

"She must have sent letters, _dy_."

"It's not going to be enough, Natalya. For martial disciplines, it's fine – we can handle the demon. What about purely academic disciplines? If something happens to you, how will they handle it?"

"Nothing is going to happen to me, Basch"—

"Let me assume that it's true. How many disciplines will be willing to allow a demon to stay with them?"

Nat quietly gritted her teeth. "He isn't a demon, Basch. He didn't ask to host a demon within him."

"The only reason anyone will believe you is because of your position, Natalya. You better hope that Katyusha hasn't sent those messages"—

"The _demon_ and I will find separate lodgings. The rest of them can stay here under the name of the House of Wheel," Nat said quietly.

"That is your temper talking. Calm down," Basch said, leaning forward, "and listen to me. Go ahead and do what you want. Only inform the House Representatives of what you told me. When you pass any other temple, be careful about what information you give them. Don't tell them that one of you hosts a demon. Just say that there is word of a demon hosting human, and you and your…crew are there to take care of it, and want shelter under the House of Wheel. And while you are at it, get them all the House Robe. It'll save you a lot of questions." Basch sighed. "You need to take care of that temper, Natalya. You are a qualified Deputy, but while none of the Houses can harm you, they won't think twice about making your accomplices pay the price of angering them. Just think about it."

Basch rose, and so did Lili. The rest of them looked at Nat, but she was deep in thought.

"Natalya."

She looked up slowly, her gaze meeting Basch's.

"Stay here for as long as you need. I'll ask one of the _kadja_ to get you four House Coats."

Nat nodded, and rose. The four others rose with her. "Thank you," she said quietly. "Good night." She turned around to walk away.

"Natalya?"

She turned back at Basch, who cracked the first smile she'd seen that night, and something she had seen after a long time.

"_He _would be proud of you."

While the rest of them looked at her, puzzled, she nodded. "I don't doubt it. Good night, Basch."

"Good night, Natalya."

* * *

"Hey, Priestess."

Nat turned to Alfred. "_Dy?_"

"Bathroom."

"Go past the privacy wall. There's a door there."

He nodded, and turned around.

"Thank you."

He looked back at her. "Did you say something?"

The faint blush on her cheeks made him bite back a smile. "You heard. Now go."

"Good night, Priestess."

He watched her walk away, grumbling, and grinned. She could be so cute sometimes.

Alfred found the door right where she said it would be, and finished up his business. As he came out, a large queen sized bed caught his eye.

The bathroom door swung open, and Alfred turned to see Matt coming out. "Ei, broski. Look at that."

Matt, who was wiping his wet hands on his sweats, looked at the queen sized bed. "Oh. It's a big bed." He looked at Alfred, who was grinning suggestively. "Alfred, no. That's not for us."

"Well, whoever it's for is not here. And the Priestess is probably sleeping elsewhere. Come on. It'll be like before."

Matt pursed his lips thoughtfully. As kids, they used to sleep in the same bed. Of course, mama used to sleep with them, too, but after they grew a bit older, mama gave them their own room, and during the thunderstorms, when Alfred would wail at every clap of thunder and streak of lightning, Matt would hug him and they would fall asleep.

He wondered. Would it be like before?

Before he knew it, Alfred had dragged him to the bed, and he'd dived under the covers. "C'mon, broski. It'll be fun."

Matt sighed. Alfred could be so convincing sometimes. He slipped into bed, and drew the covers to his nose, just like Alfred.

Alfred started cackling gleefully.

"What?" Matt asked.

"Nothing," Alfred said, grinning. "It's just like before."

Matt removed Alfred's glasses and his own, and placed it next to his pillow. Alfred was a terrible thrasher during his sleep sometimes, and letting him keep the glasses would be a bad idea. "Go to sleep."

"It is, isn't it?"

Matt couldn't lie. "It's exactly like before."

"Good night, Mattie."

Matt's eyes drooped, too. "Good night, Alfie."

~o~

Nat walked to the bathroom. She had to go to the bathroom before she slept, whether she actually needed to use it or not. Otherwise, she wouldn't get any sleep. As she reached the door, something caught her eye. She turned, and allowed herself a smile.

The two brothers were fast asleep. Surprisingly, neither of them snored. Their limbs were entangled; Matt slept on his back, while Alfred slept on his stomach. Both of them slept peacefully, and Nat could clearly make out the physical resemblances that made them brothers.

_You could take a lot away from them, Johnny Doe. But they will always be brothers._

Nat blinked. She didn't know where that thought came from. Shrugging, with a smile on her lips, she went into the bathroom.

The two brothers could be so cute sometimes.

* * *

**A/T: The brothers are ALWAYS cute! I don't know; I can't really see them being incestuous. I love them as brothers. That's just me, though.**

**I'm really sorry for the late update! *bows low* I'm really very sorry.**

**A Big shout out to Pineapple Express (I haven't been able to thank you, since you don't have an account), Black Blood of the Red Rose, APH-Mexico-Don't-Care, The EnglishMuffin, Darth Insidious and Wilhelm Wigworthy! Thank you soo much for the reviews! Reviews make me happy, so please do leave them! Again, thank you all for reviewing, and thank you all for reading!**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

**Love,**

**R. K. Iris.**


	9. Old Friend in disguise

**Don't own Hetalia. Story's all mine, though**

* * *

**Chapter 9**

* * *

_Boja _\- Son

* * *

"This is so pretty!" Elizabeta cooed as she sighted the merchandise of another jewellery shop. Natalya's firm grip on the back of her shirt didn't ease as she dragged Eliza away from yet another shop. "We're going to eat first," Nat informed her. "Then you can roam around."

"No!" Eliza wailed as she grew further and further from yet another shop.

In front of them, Alfred, Mathew and Gilbert walked, just as enchanted by the small town of Ellyse as Eliza was. It was a considerable distance to walk from the temple, but it wasn't too far, and the walk was full of picturesque scenes of greenery and backwater lagoons. From the sighting of their first lagoon, Nat had gotten her firm grip over the scruff of Eliza's neck, and was dragging her away from every possible attraction.

But Nat and the rest of them, Eliza included, were very hungry. Tired from the previous night's long drive, as well as the occurrences after reaching the temple, they had all overslept, Nat included. Nat, the first to wake up, ascertained the lack of food in the mess hall of the temple, and by the time she went back to the room, the rest of them were waking up.

They all got ready, and made their way to the port town of Ellyse, which rested on a hill next to the sea. It was a quaint, beautiful town, with bricked paths, stone buildings and shops selling pretty trinkets. It was originally a temple town, built around the temple they had just arrived from, but it had expanded itself from a temple town and had become a port town, a hub for merchants and sightseeing destination also.

Right now, they were searching for a place to eat food. Breakfast time had long passed, and Nat thought they were lucky if the first meal they could have was brunch. The men led the way, and Nat came behind, dragging an overexcited Eliza with her.

"There's a restaurant there!" Matt said, turning behind to the rest of them. "We can go there."

Nat walked over to where they were, and saw Alfred already sweet-talking to a woman in front of the shop.

"Hey, all of you! Meet this nice lady"—

Nat let go of Eliza, ignored Alfred outright and walked into the establishment.

"Okay," Alfred said, unsure of what to make of that. To the lady, he smiled and said, "She's a bit cranky today. No food in her sto"—

"_Frau_, get back here!" Gilbert yelled after Eliza, who was wandering off on her own.

Matt walked up to the lady Alfred was talking to, and smiled sweetly at her. The lady, flustered at the attention from the two of them combined, blushed a bright red.

Nat stuck her head out of the doorway. "Get in." And then, on noticing the lack of the crazy duo, asked, "Where are those two?"

"This lady will accompany us," Matt said. "Are you hungry, miss?"

The lady looked at Matt's sweet smile, but something at the corner of her eye caught her attention. A petrified squeak escaped her lips upon sighting Nat's expression, but before the boys could see it, Nat had already disappeared from the doorway and into the shop.

"W-W-Who is s-she?" the poor lady whispered, terrified.

"Oh, her," Alfred said. "She gets cranky when she's hungry. She's a lot better once she's full."

"Don't let them lead you on," Gilbert said, dragging Eliza behind him. "That _frau_ is always cranky. She scares the awesome me." And Gilbert disappeared into the shop.

"Anything scares that idiot," Alfred muttered, and turned to the lady with a bright smile. "It was nice to meet you, miss."

The poor girl gave him a watery smile, and waved weakly as they both left and disappeared into the shop as well.

"Did you catch a look on the Priestess's face?" Alfred asked as they approached the table where the rest of them were seated.

"I'm glad I didn't," was all Matt said before they sat down.

Nat had taken the liberty of ordering for all of them, and was already chomping down on something that disappeared too fast into her mouth. They partook their food, realising they were as hungry as Nat was. As soon as the food disappeared, more food arrived from the kitchen, and the only sounds at the table was the rate at which all of them gobbled food down, and the clink of cutlery.

Eliza finished first. "I'm going shopping."

"Be back in half an hour," Nat said before swallowing another spoonful of the apple pie they'd gotten as dessert. And Eliza disappeared almost instantly.

Nat finished next. After washing her hands and mouth, she sat back in her seat, and took out the map Katyusha had given her out of a bag she was carrying.

Gilbert noticed Nat frowning furiously at the map she'd held out before her face, and drew his chair closer to her. "What is it?"

Nat gave him one end of the map to hold. "We're here," she said, pressing her finger against the map, "and we need to be here." She tapped the cross closest to the previous point. "I'm trying to understand how to get there."

Gilbert eased the map from her hand, and folded it such that the location they wanted was before them. "There doesn't seem to be clear path to the cross," he murmured thoughtfully.

Nat looked up, and saw one of the restaurant's employees cleaning up their table. "Could you get me a map of Ellyse?"

He nodded, but Nat looked back down before she could catch his nod of agreement. She traced out a path with her finger on the map. "I guess the closest point in Ellyse to that cross would be the north-western side; here," she pointed. Gilbert hummed in agreement, and looked up. "It's almost noon. We won't be able to tell north from south."

"Alfred can."

The two of them looked up. Matt, who had spoken, continued, "Alfred's sense of direction is phenomenal. You don't need a better compass than him."

The two of them turned to Alfred, who resembled a squirrel stuffing itself with some more acorns than it could handle. The expressions on both their faces suggested they didn't really believe that, but they didn't think Matt would lie about such a thing. When the red haired boy who had been clearing up the table returned with the map, they gratefully took it and began analysing it.

Gilbert held it next to the cross, and turned it such that the directions of both coincided. The two of them traced out a path, and by then, all of them were done eating. Nat rose, and turned. "Can I borrow this?"

The shopkeeper, wiping the plates behind the counter, smiled at her. "You can keep it."

Nat bowed, and took out money from her pocket. Gilbert's eyes goggled as he saw the amount of money she put on the table, but before he could say anything, she walked out of the restaurant.

The three men stared at the amount she'd put on the table. "I didn't think she had so much money as pocket change."

"Priests earn a lot, _boja_."

They looked at the shopkeeper, who calmly pocketed the money. "The amount of belief we hold in their work cannot be measured by money," The shopkeeper said. "Even while they don't charge much for rituals, people pay them quite a lot. But they're all self-sufficient, so they usually spend that money in building schools and clinics for the poor."

"Oh," they all said, surprised. "That's…nice."

"Well, that priestess seemed to be in a hurry," the shopkeeper observed, and within moments, they all were out of the shop and running down the street.

* * *

"Oh. What are you guys doing here?"

Eliza watched as Nat and the others walked towards where she was. Nat held up the bag she was carrying with her. "We need to install this," Nat said. "We're going there now."

"Hold up. I'll join." Eliza turned around and paid the shopkeeper, probably for the necklace around her neck and rings on her finger, and walked over to where all of them were standing. Nat led the way, map in hand; behind her, Gilbert and Eliza quibbled over her jewellery; Alfred and Matt brought the rear.

Soon, Matt joined the crazy duo, while Alfred walked to Nat.

"Hey, Priestess. Can I have that map?"

Nat gave him a look which could've made him want to jump out of his skin and run away, but now, he was the least bit fazed. Realising that, she just handed over the map, and continued walked.

"I'm good with maps and directions," Alfred said, and looked up. "We need to go that way."

Nat just walked with him, and the rest of them followed.

"You can talk about yourself, you know. No one is going to judge you."

Nat looked at Alfred, who was alternating between her and the map. "What makes you think I want to talk?" she asked him.

"You obviously do. You just don't trust people to listen or to think of what you say as important."

Nat swallowed her retaliation. This guy was cutting it close and getting under her skin. "What's your brother doing?"

The two of them turned around, and saw the three of them laughing about something. Nat stole a glance at Alfred; his face, in its moment of vulnerability, said everything.

And without even realising it, she started talking. "When I first started school, I only used to go for the martial arts classes. I used to play hooky for every other class," she said, and he turned to her as she spoke. "At that time, Katyusha had taken responsibility for me, and she was training to be a teacher. She used to mostly chase me around the grounds with a book in her hand, because she had to study." Nat chuckled. "I troubled her so much. Once, I was hiding in the kitchen, and there were two of my seniors there as well. The cook had made a lot of sweets because the Head Representatives were visiting. We were really hungry, so we ate some, and took the rest and passed them through the classroom windows"—

"How did you get there?"

Nat grinned at the awe in Alfred's voice. "There isn't a wall I haven't scaled, or a tree I haven't climbed," she said, quiet pride in her voice. "I went up and down the wall, and we passed it through the window. They knew I'd done it, but they couldn't put the blame on me, since it was the work of more than one person. Poor Katyusha got a yelling, and we felt really bad, so we made a new batch of sweets." She turned to Alfred, and made a face. "The worst part was that it was better than what we'd had, and we didn't try a single piece."

Alfred laughed. "I'm sure it was." Still chuckling, he asked, "What else did you do?"

"Oh, so much more. I got into so much trouble."

Alfred chuckled at the pride in her voice as she said that. "But you are good at what you do."

Nat smiled. "I could not play hooky forever. I started studying hard after a while."

"Why? What pushed you to?"

She shook her head, and a tinge of sadness came into her eyes. "I was challenged. Actually, both Katyusha and I were. We were challenged to become Head Priestesses, one after the other."

"Do you want to become one?"

Nat shrugged. "Not as long as Katyusha wishes to stay Head Priestess. But that's one of the reasons I started studying to become a Deputy – it was the easiest way to know of the duties of a Head. By the end of it, however…I just wanted to help Katyusha."

Alfred smiled gently. "You really love her, don't you?"

All Nat quietly said was, "Don't breathe a word about it to anyone else."

He wanted to tell her it was apparent how much she cared for the older woman. He just locked his arms behind his head and said, "Your secret is safe with me."

~o~

"Where are they?"

Everyone in the restaurant turned, and the shopkeeper looked at the wheezing priest at his door. "Calm down, Brother. What is it?"

"The Priestess and her four companions. Where are they?" the priest yelled through short bursts of breath.

"They were making plans to go into the woods by the coast," a red haired boy said, and he turned to the shopkeeper. "I heard the priestess and the pale man talking about it while I cleared their table."

"Which direction?" the priest demanded.

"North-west."

The man paled so drastically, the shopkeeper left his station and went towards him. Even before he could reach, the priest fell to his knees, and was gripping his hands so hard his knuckles went white. The shopkeeper picked up a jug full of water and a glass, and kneeled by the priest, filling the glass with water. And all the priest did was say the same thing, over and over again.

"Oh, no."

* * *

"Where are we?"

Nat looked from Eliza to Alfred. "Do you think we have reached?"

Alfred frowned at the map. "A little further ahead."

Nat relayed the information, and continued to walk next to Alfred. But, slowly, she began to sense something was wrong.

"Stay close to me," she told Alfred, who looked at her with surprise on his face. She ignored it; she turned around to the rest of them. "Hey. Keep close."

Eliza, who heard her first, frowned. "What happened?"

Nat frowned, and scanned the network of branches. She couldn't see anything suspicious, but her training had taught her that her vision wasn't the only sense she should rely on. Her gaze went back on the path before her, trying to search for something unusual. She couldn't find anything.

"Hey, we've been walking for an hour," Gilbert said, to which Nat turned around. "You're exhausted?"

Gilbert puffed up to his full capacity, and stabbed his chest with his thumb. "The awesome me does not get 'exhausted'. I was…just thinking we could…admire the nature here. Like that awesome flower!" he yelled enthusiastically, and ran towards a shrub with large yellow and red flowers in full bloom.

And Nat realised what was going on. But before she could open her mouth and say a word, Gilbert's shocked scream filled the air.

"Don't go there!" Nat snapped harshly at Eliza, who pulled herself back from rushing to the pit Gilbert had fallen into. She turned to Alfred. "Give one of your keshi to Matt," she instructed. She herself pulled out one of her keshi and tossed it to Eliza. Turning to the pit, she yelled out, "Did you break anything?"

"No," he groaned out.

"Is it becoming hard for you to breathe?" she yelled.

"…A little."

Nat quickly removed her blue-black overcoat, pulled out a water bottle from her back, and wrapped the coat around the bottle. "I'm throwing you my coat, as well as water. Catch it." She tossed it into the pit from where she was standing, and heard Gilbert's grunt as he caught it.

"Wear the coat. There's a kerchief in one of the pockets. Wet it and hold it to your nose. Breath through that. And wash your eyes and face," she yelled out.

"What's going on, Natalya?" Alfred asked her, and she could sense his fear.

"We aren't wanted here," Natalya said loudly, and got the response she wanted.

A loud laugh filled the air. Nat honed her senses, trying to find the spot of their ambusher, while the rest of them looked around wildly.

_There_!

Nat caught Alfred's arm and yanked him behind her, drawing her keshi out and holding it aloft, in the direction of the branches. "How many of you are there?" she yelled out.

In answer, an arrow came whizzing at her. She sidestepped, and shot three bullets in the direction of the arrow. At once, a bow dropped from the tree.

She pulled out a normal gun and aimed it in the direction of the general tree line. "Come out, and I might spare you the eternal damnation that my bullets will bring you," Nat called out.

"You're open, priestess," came the reply.

Before Nat had the opportunity to curse, she heard something whizz from her side, and held her keshi across her face just before the incoming blade could cut a gorge through her head. Sparks flew, and Nat felt the force pushing her back, since it wasn't a lone blade – its wielder had also made herself known.

Nat grunted, and pushed the masked woman off. But the attacker wasn't going to be dissuaded so easily; she flew forward and swung her short blade at Nat. Nat dodged, using her keshi and her gun as her defence. But there was only so much she could defend, and her attacker was no novice. With every attack, with every rise of sparks, Nat could feel her attacks driving closer home.

Nat muttered an incantation, slipped into her attacker's personal space and drove the back of the keshi into the mask of her attacker. The activated inscriptions at the back of the keshi, as well as the force Nat put behind the move, sent the woman flying back. Nat wasn't stupid; she pushed back her gun in her right hand into her holster and grabbed her attacker before the latter could fall down.

She pulled her attacker close to her, and slipping out one of her attacker's blades the belt, she held it to the woman's neck. "Move, and your sword's going to go through you," Nat whispered into her ear, positioning the back of her keshi such that it was a hair's width from the woman's neck.

But her victory was short lived. When she looked up, Eliza, Alfred and Matt were all on their knees, held in position by more people with masks and short swords.

"…Natalya. Is that you?"

Nat's attention quickly moved to her attacker. "_Dy_. Who are you?"

A throaty chuckle emerged from the woman. "I should hit you for forgetting me."

The chuckle sealed it for Nat, and she instantly knew who it was. "…Are you serious? Shree?" she squeaked.

"I would laugh, but that keshi of yours is too close. If you don't mind…"

Nat instantly let go of the woman. Before she could say another word, however, a whizzing sound filled her ears, and unbelievable pain shot through her.

At once, four voices screamed out her name, but her senses felt dulled, as if someone pushed her under water and everything was coming at her from outside. She immediately understood exactly what happened – the archer she'd shot in the trees had gotten down and shot her with a poisoned arrow. And she knew exactly which poison he'd used, too, and she had an antidote for it. Unfortunately, it was with Gilbert, in the coat which was protecting him from the poisonous gas within the pit.

Nat staggered to her knees. She could hear the three others screaming, but it wasn't out of pain. She looked to her side, and the mask Shree wore was close. Good. "Pit…coat…antidote…get my coat…"

Staying upright was becoming a pain. The poison worked fast, and the best thing for her to do was to relax, and let it go through her slowly, until she got her antidote. She let herself fall to the ground – she didn't even feel herself landing. The world before her was becoming into a haze of bright colours. Damn the poison.

Damn everything.

~O~

_You called?_

_She's hurt! I need to…I have to…Please!_

_Do you know the consequences?_

_HELP HER!_

_Very well._

~O~

Eliza turned to the sound of the yell, and gasped soundlessly.

Alfred was on fire.

Flames bloomed around him, red as the rising sun, enveloping his entire being. He removed his glasses, and let them drop to the ground. His hair was gently floating, and his eyes had gone from sky blue to golden-orange.

The man who had been holding him had yelled out, and was cradling his hands, having burnt them on the flames emerging from Alfred. Alfred just turned to the men who had been holding Matt and Eliza – they had released the two of them as soon as they saw the flames rise from Alfred.

He looked straight into their eyes, one after the other. An incredible pressure engulfed them inside out, from all sides. They could feel their bones, their muscles, their breath and their blood push against itself, until there was no more space to slosh around. Their world compressed further and further, until it was squeezed, squeezed into one tiny point. And even when that point disappeared, they slipped into blessed unconsciousness.

~O~

_W-What is this?_

_You asked me for my power. Now you have it. Save the priestess._

_I-Is t-this…?_

_Yes. This is what it means to be a demon._

~O~

Shree jumped into the pit. Her mask prevented the poisonous fumes from affecting her, and while it could eat away her skin, she wasn't planning to stay in for that long.

The part of her mind not concentrating on making sure that she got the antidote to Natalya before it killed her was cursing her actions. It had been too long since she'd seen the foul-tempered priestess, but to have attacked her so hastily…

She found the coat – rather, she found someone wearing the coat. It was one of the people travelling with Natalya. Without thinking, she grabbed him around the waist, and scurried up the pit as fast as she'd come down.

Once out, she wrenched the mask off her face. She laid the man on the ground, and began searching the pockets of the coat. From the corner of her eye, she saw that he was breathing through a wet rag. She had to take a moment to smile at Natalya's ingenuity – that girl had really learnt her survival skills well.

There. She found it. She took it out, and looked up, only to have her jaw drop.

One of her companions had turned into a demon.

The sheer beauty of the man, combined with the pressure that power exerted had her rooted to the ground. His entire being flamed crimson, flowing around him in waves, turning everything around him into ash. He hovered above the ground, and the ends of his clothes floated in the air, in tune to the pulse of the flames. His gold hair had turned luminescent; the ends of his fingers merged into the flames. It was like watching the embodiment of the Sun walk away from her, towards…

Towards the priest who shot Natalya.

That snapped her out of it. With an oath, she dashed to where Natalya was lying on the ground. A million questions whizzed through her head, but she concentrated on rubbing the paste onto Natalya's wound. To further quicken the process, she brought out her own water bottle, took a bit of the paste on the tip of her finger and wetted it. She held it under Natalya's nose, and let the odour waft into her nose.

But she could sit there until Natalya came to. She turned around, but both her men were unconscious, and the remaining two companions of Natalya sat there, shaking.

But there was no time. "Hey, you!" she called out. Eliza took notice first. "Come here and help her!" Shree yelled out, and Eliza hurried over to where she was.

"Hold this paste under her nose," Shree instructed. "If it dries, wet it. Hold it until she comes to."

"I-If a-anything happens t-to her, I-I will n-never forgive you."

Shree looked at the Eliza. Had she made a grave mistake? "I won't forgive myself, either," Shree muttered, and got up. With an oath, she realised the last of Natalya's companions had gotten to the demon before she had.

Who were all these people?

~o~

"A-Alfred, s-stop!" Matt screamed, holding the keshi with both hands. He was shaking. He'd never, ever had to experience something like this, and suddenly, his brother was…his brother was…

Alfred stopped, and tilted his head to the side, as if unable to understand.

"I-I don't k-k-know what you're g-gonna do, b-but stop!" Matt blurted out.

Matt watched as Alfred raised one hand, and slowly reached out to Matt.

Matt wanted to move. He wanted to run away.

But he couldn't.

He just couldn't.

Alfred was his brother.

He loved Matt.

He wouldn't harm him.

Even as the flames grew closer and closer to his face, Matt knew he wouldn't harm him.

Even as the pressure began to choke the breath in his lungs, Matt knew Alfred wouldn't harm him.

Alfred loved Matt.

Alfred –

"Get back!" Shree yelled. She grabbed the keshi from Matt's trembling hands, aimed at Alfred, and fired.

~o~

"_AAAAAARRRGGGHHH!_"

Nat came to suddenly, and the pain hit her almost immediately, followed by the nauseating smell she recognised instantly. She shook her head and got up, sensing Eliza's presence.

"What the hell was that?" she muttered, and looked up.

Yellow flames were eating up the ground and the trees, turning the green forest into a grey clearing. Natalya recognized both voices in the ear-splitting scream – the demon's roar of agony, and Alfred's cry of pain.

She saw Alfred reeling back, clutching onto his shoulder, and it didn't take much time for her pain-numbed mind to put two and two together. Without any further ado, her mind did a couple more equations.

"H-Hey, Eliza, you have a good arm, right?" Nat asked slowly, gritting her teeth at the pain.

"Y-Yes."

"I-If I asked you t-to throw me to A-Alfred…would it b-be too much?"

"Will i-it help?"

"_Dy._"

Eliza wiped the remainder of the medicine on her pants, and got up. Nat knew the woman had phenomenal arm strength, having seen her bodily fling Gilbert left and right with aim so beautiful it was too good to be true. Nat just hoped that, at such a moment, her arm and aim didn't fail her.

Nat felt Eliza pick her up like she was nothing more than a rubber ball, and wondered if she was doing the right thing.

"Heave ho!"

And as she flew through the air, she realised, it really didn't matter.

* * *

_The fall wasn't as bad as I'd expected it to be. In fact, I didn't fall at all. Plus, there was no pain in my right shoulder. As much as I would have loved to drag it out, Matt, Shree and even Alfred were waiting outside for me. So was the pain, nausea and the repercussions of our actions, but they would have to be faced one at a time._

_The demon's presence came before me before the demon presented itself visibly. It was using Johnny Doe's younger body, and I had to calm my hate for the man before I could speak. Hating a dead man was of no consequence at all, and didn't help anyone._

_"_Did he ask you for help?_"_

_The demon nodded. "_He wished to help you._"_

_That was cute. Which was why he had to unleash this chaos onto people who didn't know how to handle it. "_I am fine. You can see for yourself."

"Tell him that._" The demon moved aside, and I saw Alfred._

_He was covered in similar flames as his body outside was, but the colour was different. It was a feeble, pale blue. And the proud, tall, powerful being outside was nothing like the Alfred before me, crouching to the ground, clutching at his hair._

_I went and sat before him. There wasn't much time, but some things had to be done slowly. "_I am fine, Alfred."

_He didn't hear me. I reached out to him, and my hand reflexively jerked back at the touch of the flames. It was his psyche, but it was no less hot than a normal flame. Gritting my teeth, I reached in and caught hold of his shoulder. "_Alfred."

_He looked up. He wasn't wearing his glasses. His blue eyes were bloodshot and watery, blurred with tears. _"Natalya?_" he whispered, almost unsure of himself. _

"I'm fine, Alf"—

_Before I could say anything more, he flung himself at me, wrapping his arms around my shoulders and burying his face in my neck. _"You're alright. Thank god, you're alright._"_

_I didn't know what to say. I didn't think I could even speak. Out of their own volition, my arms went around him, holding him close. "_I'm fine, Alfred. I'm fine."

_Tears ran down my neck. I couldn't believe someone was actually crying for me. Katyusha was the only one who had ever cried for me – the only other person was long gone. And now, him…_ "Alfred, I'm fine._"_

_I let him cry for a while. I didn't know how much time passed outside, but I was sure both our bodies had collapsed, like they did while I was in his psyche. None of them were in danger. _

_He stopped crying, and just hiccupped. Why was this man... "_We need to go, Alfred. We have to go back."

_He let go of me, and moved away. _"I was so"—

_I just wiped his face. I didn't know why, but tears were always something painful for me. I couldn't bear to see someone else cry. "_It's okay. Let's go now. And never do that again. Understood?"

_He nodded quietly, and let me get him on his feet. I turned to the demon, who stood there silently, observing us. "_I…I am sorry." _I didn't know what else to say._

_The demon stretched, as if coming out of a long dream. "_Well, it was fun. If I get too bored, I might come out to stretch my legs."

_I blinked. This demon had a sense of humour. "_I shall try to keep things interesting._"_

_"_Good bye, Priestess." _And he vanished._

_A demon with a sense of humour. I turned to Alfred, who seemed to have gained his composure somewhat. "_It's not going to be pretty out there."

"Didn't think would be." _He sniffed._ "I'm sorry."

_I squeezed his arm; I couldn't really think of what to say, beyond a weak 'it's okay', and that didn't seem like the most appropriate thing to say. But there were going to be consequences._

_With a sigh, I closed my eyes._

"Let's go."

* * *

The pain hit her almost immediately. She rolled to one side; she opened her mouth to scream, and screamed noiselessly. The poison dulled the senses; without the poison, she could feel the full impact of having an arrow go deep into her shoulder.

Through the haze of pain, she could hear the screams. She opened her eyes, and reached out to the first person she saw. She grabbed Matt's hand, and tugged on it. His usually calm blue eyes were so scared, her heart melted. She wanted to tell him she'd been through worse. She wanted to tell him he was so brave, that she was surrounded by such brave people, and she didn't even know. Her hand inched to his face, patted it, in the desperate hope of transferring her thoughts through touch. He had to know how brave he was. She had to tell him.

She blinked, and looked up. Shree was surrounded by people wearing masks. She recognized one mask. Raj…that was Raj. Raj was here.

He removed his mask. Nat blinked. The entire world went out of focus, and snapped into sharp clarity. It was Raj. He was older than when she'd seen him last, but…that was Raj.

He didn't look happy, though…Nat frowned. Why… She could feel darkness dragging her in, forcing her to stop remaining in the pain. But no…now he was saying something. Raj was saying something. She heard him say one sentence before she slipped into unconsciousness.

"They are all under arrest."

* * *

**A/T: Shree and Raj (and another character in the next chapter) could be assumed as epitomes of India, although if I chose to give an actual name to India, there would be waaay too many. But yes, they're Indian.**

**I hope you enjoyed that little action sequence. I'm going to get on working on the next chapter almost immediately...I love this story, people, and it's going to be finished. So please bear with my late updates, whenever they come. And please leave reviews - I like reviews.**

**~o~ is for a small pause as for different events happening within the same scene with different points of view, ~O~ is for a significantly long pause or for a transition in scene (here, it was from the outside world to Alfred's psyche) and a line break is a definitive pause. You might ask why all this...I believe it makes for a better reading experience. I can't seem to be able to leave spaces between paragraphs, which is what I usually do when I have to indicate change in PoV in the same scene, but ~o~ does the trick, too, I hope. Make do with what you have and can work with, I guess. **

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

**Love,**

**R. K. Iris.**


	10. The Shankha Mandira

**Disclaimer: Do not own Hetalia. Story is completely mine, though.**

* * *

**Chapter 10**

* * *

_Práklon – _Bel – Damn it

* * *

Natalya awoke with a start. She groaned, and rubbed her face, trying to recollect the last thing that happened to her. As she remembered, she groaned even louder.

_Práklon._

She got up slowly, trying to not jostle her injured shoulder suddenly. She looked down, and grimaced at what she was wearing. A long shift shirt that came till her knees, and palazzo trousers; she growled. Things couldn't get any worse.

They were at the _Shankha Mandira_, or, the Temple of the Conch.

Nat looked around. They weren't in the main temple. She recognised the room as one she had used before, and realised that they were on the island off the coast of Ellyse. As she looked around, the events of before she'd fallen unconscious came to her, filling her in.

The large windows on the same side of the head of the bed were open, but the sheer curtains covering them changed the tint, so to speak, of the light streaming in. Nat could smell the sea riding on the breeze wafting in. The room was done in tones of bronze, rusts and olive greens – an odd combination which was surprisingly soothing for the eyes. The rooms in the temples affiliated to the _Shankha Mandira_ were quite well furnished, with the best materials used – the best sheets, the best flooring, the best stones for the murals on the walls. Most of the things she saw in this room were luxuries in her own temple, even though it was the main temple.

Nat turned her attention to her injured shoulder. She didn't unintelligently flex it – she just let her consciousness slide over the injured area, and assessed the damage. She'd been in enough situations to know how bad an injury was just by assessing the way it throbbed, and the medicine that had been used on it. With a sigh, she slowly rose. The shoulder would give her a bad time for a while, but if she took care of it, it wouldn't hurt for the rest of her life.

Just as she rose, the door opened. A smile which most people never got to see tugged at her lips. "Shree."

The dusky skinned woman approached Nat with a playful smile on her face. "I see you're up."

"How long have I been out?"

"Not too long," Shree said. "A day, at most. Thankfully, you didn't get a fever. If you want to stay that way, stay in bed."

Nat looked at the lady she considered one of her closest friends. She'd grown out her thick black hair, and wore it in a braid twisted in a bun at the base of her head. Her brown eyes twinkled just as merrily as ever, and even though both of them wore the same kind of long shift dress that came till the knees and palazzo trousers, she carried it with an elegance Nat knew she would never have. Shree Sharma was gorgeous to look at, a beauty that belied her deadliness.

Nat stood, analysing Shree's face for so long that Shree just raised an eyebrow in response. "What?"

"Where's Raj?"

The look of curiosity mixed with slight aloofness gave way to sorrow. "He's not..."

"He's here, Shree. Where is he? And where are my companions?" Nat waited for Shree to reply, but something was holding the younger woman back. Slightly irritated, Nat said, "I remember everything, Shree. Raj came and he put everyone under arrest. I need to know where my companions are."

"They're imprisoned."

"Where?"

"Natalya, you can't go there"—

"Shree, neither of you have let me explain"—

"It was Om's order."

Nat was flabbergasted. "…Are you serious?"

"Om sensed the demon energy, so he sent Raj. Raj imprisoned all of them, and treated your wounds."

Nat was shocked, truly and deeply. Om was the supreme head of the _Shankha Mandira_ – he was a spiritual genius. Most people within the main _Shanka Mandira _temple itself spent their entire life without catching a glimpse of his face. He rarely showed himself, letting his younger siblings, Raj and Shree, be present in his stead. The man's spiritual achievements were so great that the Heads of the eight Houses, who bowed to none other than their God and their teachers, chose to prostate in reverence before him. He was a great man, and one of the most powerful spiritual masters in the twelve Realms.

Nat had seen him a couple of times. 'Om' was just a title, not his actual name. Only very few knew of his actual name, and nobody divulged it – not because it was a great secret, but because from the time a child attained the age of seven and cleared a test given by the previous Om, he or she was addressed as Om. She'd spoken to him once, before he took on the post of the actual Om, and she'd found him to be a very grounded and reasonable person. She just hoped…

"I need to speak to Om, then."

Shree was so shocked she looked like she was going to swoon. "You want to speak to Om?"

"I need to speak to him, Shree. I'm sure he knows."

Om had the ability to sense a person's intentions towards him even before seeing them, sort of like a heightened sense of intuition. He couldn't read minds, per se, but what he could do came awfully close to it.

"I-I'm sure he does, but…Nat, you just don't ask for audience with Om like that!"

"It's urgent, Shree. I really don't have time to be waiting for someone to call on me. I need to speak to him."

Shree look so utterly confused Nat wanted to pat her on the back, but she sensed things weren't going to just wait for her to come around to doing them. The fact that she hadn't been able to install the idol…The idol!

"Shree! My bag!"

"Relax, it's here," Shree gestured next to her bed. Nat quickly bent down, and doubled over in pain over the gesture. Even as Shree called out behind her, Nat went through the bag.

The idol was there. Thank God.

"Natalya…what is that doing there?"

Nat gritted her teeth, and turned around. "Shree…take this to Om. If he doesn't grant me audience, I'll be there to take this back." When Shree hesitated, Nat growled, "Take it!"

Nat jerked the back into Shree's hand, who took it mutely, confusion writ large on her face. Without another word, she quickly walked out of the room.

Nat sat back, leaning against the frame of the bed, gasping through the pain, cursing mentally the entire time. Damn this pain. Damn this pain. She shut her eyes tightly and tilted her head back, letting the pain wash over her. Sweat rolled down her back, over her face. The thought that she needed to have her hair braided passed through her mind, and she decided to sit out the pain, and wait until Shree came back.

And come back she did, without the bag. As soon as she saw Nat's face, she ran across the room to Nat in an instant. She held something to Nat's mouth. "Open."

Nat feebly opened her mouth, and swallowed what Shree popped in with the glass of water that Shree held to her lips. She leaned back, and breathed slowly and shallowly. Shree sat next to her, holding her hand.

"Hey…Shree…"

"Yes."

"Braid my hair, please."

Shree got up, and got between Nat and the bed after coaxing Nat to move a little forward. She sat down, stretching her legs on either side of Nat. With deft fingers, she quickly braided Nat's hair, and left it as it was, since she knew that Nat didn't enjoy wearing it in a bun the way Shree did. She eased Nat back, until Nat leaned into her, and sat like that until she heard Nat's breath deepen.

"Feeling better?" she asked softly.

Nat nodded. "_Dy._"

"Om's requested to meet you. When you're feeling bet…ter…" Shree trailed off as she watch Nat spring to her feet. "That was quick." She accepted Nat's left hand, and let herself be pulled up. "Are you fine, really?"

"I will be," Nat said, and sniffed. "Let's go."

* * *

Her skin goosebumped as she walked into the room. His very presence had that effect on her. She forgot her pain, forgot everything else, and her entire being focussed on the large, magnetic, soothing presence before her. Nat did believe in God, but her non-belief towards those who could speak to God vanished after the first time she stood in Om's presence. If God had a human form, it would be Om.

He was seated on the floor, at the end of the long corridor. She'd been to this corridor a couple times before, as the student of the Deputy of the House of Wheel. Once every four years, the House Representatives with their students would meet here, which was the closest to four Houses, or at the main temple, which was far for everyone. Nat hadn't spoken to him, but had seen the way other Heads, all spiritual masters themselves, bowed before this…this _being_.

He didn't seem human to her. He was ethereal. He was divine.

He seemed to be meditating. As soon as she drew closer to him, he opened his eyes, and looked at here. A shock seemed to reverberate through her as the golden eyes gazed at her.

He smiled happily at her. "Natalya. Welcome."

Nat sat on her knees before him, and bowed to prostate, when he said, "It's alright. Your arm is injured." She rose, and saw him looking at her arm. "Could I see it, if you don't mind?"

Nat inched forward. His aura was awe-inspiring, and the pressure it put on those around was tremendous. She sat on her knees right in front of him, and braced herself for the pain as he reached for her injured shoulder.

"This might sting a little bit," he slowly said. His speech was slow and clear, and the tenure of it was soothing, like a balm. She felt him press an uninjured point on her shoulder, and grimaced – it felt like a needle prick – but the pain quickly went away. He let go of her arm, and turned back to her. "It still needs to heal. But since the muscles around the wound are relaxed, it will heal faster. Come, sit, sit."

Nat drew back, and sat down before him. She could see he had the idol next to him. "_Duruni_, I have to tell you about my companions."

He smiled at her. "Yes, where are they? I would like to see them." He looked up, at Shree. "Shree, where are they?"

Shree looked like she wanted the ground to spilt into two and swallow her up. "Raj…imprisoned them."

"Hmm." Om frowned. "I asked him to bring them here. I did know there were all in the same room, but imprisoned…that's a bit harsh."

"_Duruni_, I would like to talk to you before you see them."

Om turned to Nat, his face brightening up again. "Yes, yes, Natalya. How have you been? How is Katyusha?"

"Katyusha's fine. She's the same," Nat said, but before she could say further, Om brought the idol before her.

"I assume you have all nine idols?" he asked.

"Not right now. I have just this one, _Duruni_," Nat said, using the address of respect reserved for Om. "We had come to install the doll when we met with Shree and her men."

"Shree didn't recognise you?" Om asked, and both of them turned to Shree, who was still standing.

"How could I have? She wasn't wearing her coat, plus she's grown her hair and has gained quite a bit of weight. In a good way, in a good way," Shree quickly added in her attempt to placate Nat.

Nat just narrowed her eyes at Shree, and turned back to Om. "She didn't. She's a terrible friend."

Om nodded understandingly, and both of them ignored Shree's flabbergasted expression. "And this scuffle. But, I sensed the demon's presence. Shree said one of your friends turned into a demon."

"…_Dy. _That is what I wish to explain."

Om nodded. "Tell me, Natalya."

"It started from the time of the last meeting, when you spoke to the Deputies of three Houses about the disruption of order near Senchessy."

Om nodded. "Yes. The House of Grass, the House of Flame and the House of Wheel."

Nat nodded in response. "And all the three Deputies began trying to find out what was causing this disruption. They found it to be in the country of Fitzgerald, which was ruled under Alfred Fitzgerald Jones Sr., also known as Johnny Doe. And this man happened to be the source of the problem."

Om understood quickly. "So, this demon originally rested within this man?"

Nat nodded in agreement. "The Deputies decided to investigate until they were thoroughly sure. They sent the report to you, as well as all the other Houses. It was sometime after this report that…the Deputy of the House of Wheel was…killed." Nat didn't feel tears welling up in her eyes like she used to, but the pressure on her chest whenever she thought about it returned. With a deep breath, she continued. "Once I became Deputy, I decided to finish what was yet to be done. Johnny Doe hosted the demon whose presence was creating the disturbance you sensed. And it was a level 3 demon, we assume from the third or fourth Realm, which is why the disturbance can be felt. Unfortunately, I had to host the demon for a while, before finding out that Johnny Doe had imprinted the demon on one of his sons, Alfred Jones Jr. The demon told me that either it would remain in Alfred's body during the transfer, or Johnny Doe's mind would stay back."

"Why his mind?" Shree asked, puzzled.

"He must have formed the contract on his mind," Om quietly concluded. "That was another reason why the disturbance was palpable."

Nat nodded. "The mind stayed back. We cannot exorcise the demon in order to let to go back to its Realm until we have separated the mind and the demon. I returned to Senchessy, and Katyusha suggested that until we find out more about this demon, we should set up a standard barrier, to prevent any more demons from the other Realms to enter here."

Om closed his eyes, and meditated on the information Nat had given him for some time. Then he opened his eyes and looked at Shree. "Shree, please get Raj and Natalya's friends in here, please."

Shree nodded, and turned around.

"You are yet to answer my question, Natalya."

Nat turned from Shree's retreating figure to Om. "Your question, _Duruni_?"

"How are you?"

She chuckled, but it was a sound filled with sadness. "_Duruni_, you would know how I am." She sighed. "I'm tired. I'm confused. And I'm scared." Now she felt the tears coming on. With a watery smile, she looked at Om. "Not much of a difference from two years ago."

Om's gaze penetrated through her sorrow, dissipating it. "We stay true to our nature till the very end, yet somehow manage to grow in mysterious ways. That is the nature of a human being, Natalya. His death pains you still, Natalya."

"How could it not, _Duruni_?" Natalya choked. To her chagrin, tears rolled down her face. "How could it not?"

"It couldn't. And it still pains me, too. I do know one thing, Natalya. If he were to see us like this, he would surely laugh."

Nat chuckled as she wiped her tears. "He would."

"You are a strong being, Natalya. Life breeds in strength. And when life breeds for long enough, good things come your way. Things will explain themselves, my dear. Just have some patience with our Lord – He will reveal the way to us as and when we need it." Om grew silent for a while. "If you turn around and see, my dear, you shall realise He has already revealed yours."

"I couldn't have become a priestess if I had no faith in God, _Duruni_," Nat said, and sighed. "I just have to wait."

"Yes."

"I don't like waiting."

Om smiled. "I shall tell you a secret," he said playfully.

"_Dy, Duruni_."

"Neither do I. Which is why it's a good thing that they have arrived."

Nat stared at Om as he looked forward and smiled pleasantly. Was…Was God really like this? Nat knew people saw God as a mother, or a father, or a guardian. To Nat, God was neither – God was the singular constant in the world of change. But…could God also be a friend?

Om glanced towards her, and smiled knowingly, before turning back to the approaching group. "Welcome."

Well, she had her answer there.

She looked up, and saw Raj and Shree leading the way. Where Om was clean shaven, with not a single strand of hair on his entire head or face, Raj had a tuft of long hair at the back of his head, which was neatly braided. The side of his head, which was clean of hair, was tattooed with various inscriptions and insignias. Nat knew for a fact that the side of Shree's head, too, had similar tattoos, but she'd let her hair grow out, so it was hidden underneath her hair.

Where Om's aura was calm and soothing, Raj's aura was fierce and intimidating. He'd always been a very serious person, even as a child. Even though he wore the same knee-length shift shirt and trousers as Shree did, the loose clothes could do nothing to hide his fit and strong body, the body of a warrior. He walked nimbly, completely at ease in his own skin, and carried himself with the same grace as Shree did. His entire persona screamed 'warrior', and he was someone Nat had deep respect for.

Behind them walked Alfred, Mathew, Elizabeta and Gilbert, their eyes large with awe as they took everything in. As soon as they saw Natalya, they ran towards her, completely ignoring Raj or Shree. They sat down before her, and assaulted her with a barrage of questions. And that was when Nat realised it.

She missed these people. She missed all of them very much.

"I'm fine. My arm is fine – no, don't go to touch it. All of you, sit down – no, sit down. Gilbert, sit down. Alfred – Alfred…?"

Nat watched, dumbstruck, as Om rose, and stood before Alfred, the smile on his face fading in degrees.

"Natalya, who is he?" Eliza whispered. "Hey, Nat – say something!"

Nat couldn't. The amulet on her upper arm began growing tighter, slowly but surely. Alfred's face was impassive, set in stone, but the demon within him grew more and more anxious. And, in turn, so did Alfred.

Nat couldn't shake off the feeling of how, in that moment, Alfred looked just like his father. She rose to her feet, but found herself unable to move.

"Do you feel you can trust me, my dear?"

Nat jolted at the question, and turned to Om. "Of course, _Duruni_."

A shadow of his previous smile flashed across Om's face. He turned his concentration to Alfred. "Do you feel you can trust me…Alfred?"

Alfred looked at the man before him. The man was clean shaven, and wore saffron and red robes which were draped across his body. One shoulder was bare, and the other bore a large emblem, which was probably a pin or brooch which held the clothes over his other body together. His amber eyes were alive, blazing, a stark contrast to his peaceful and calm demeanour. But Alfred knew that there was something about this man that was making the demon within panic, something that this man had that nobody else had in the world.

"_I need her here._"

His mouth opened, but it wasn't his voice which emerged. Shocked, he listened to a thousand voices, merging and separating, say those words from inside his body. The man Natalya addressed as _Duruni_ smiled, but it wasn't the kind, close-eyed smile from before.

"What is your name?"

"_I need her here._"

"Why?"

"_I trust her more than I trust you._"

Om closed his eyes. Before anyone could realise it, his arm darted upwards, and he pressed two fingers to Alfred's forehead.

A strangled roar filled the room, the scream of a thousand voices in pain. Natalya felt the amulet around her arm squeeze so tight that she lost all sensation in her arm, and gasped in pain. Heat flowed off both Om and Alfred's backs in waves, and Raj and Shree quickly moved away before the waves could engulf them. That heat turned to light, and the rest of them, their hands on their ears, watched as blue and orange flames bloomed behind Om and Alfred respectively.

Om suddenly let go, and the flames and the roar died out. Alfred crumpled to the ground, unconscious, the back of his shirt burnt to a crisp. Sweat ran down Om's face. He wiped his face with his hands, and removed the burnt robes covering his back and torso.

The amulet suddenly released its grip on Nat's arm, and Nat bit her lower lip to stop herself from groaning out in pain. Before she could get to Alfred, Matt was already there, holding onto his brother, trying to snap him back to consciousness.

"Alfred! Alfred!" Matt whispered urgently, tapping Alfred's cheek. "Alfred, wake up!"

"That is a powerful demon within him," Om said calmly, wiping off the last beads of sweat. "And the mind which has made the contract with the demon is equally strong," he continued, and walked towards Alfred.

"Stop! Don't come any closer!" Matt yelled out, his eyes blazing in rage.

Everyone stopped doing what they were, and looked at Matt. His face was red with rage, and his lips quivered and trembled with supressed fury.

"Do not come any closer to Alfred!" he yelled at Om. "You will hurt him the way you did before! Don't you dare touch him again!"

Natalya, gritting her teeth to keep back the pain, turned to Matt. "Matt, listen to me"—

"No!" he cried out. "I won't listen! We listened to you this entire time, Natalya! None of us signed up for this! My brother…my brother isn't an experiment for all of you to do what you want! He is…he is…" Matt choked on the tears closing in on his throat, and lowered his head, his hair falling over his glasses. "Just…all of you, please stay away. Please."

Nat watched with utter shock as Matt buried his head in Alfred's neck and broke down. His tears were silent, but his sorrow was deafening, as his entire body convulsed with anguish.

"…Oi, broski, my shirt's getting wet."

"…Shut up."

Alfred chuckled weakly as he ran his fingers through Matt's tangled curls. "I…I feel like I was run over…by a truck, y'know? Not in a painful way, but just…exhausted."

Matt raised his head, and sniffed. "Your shirt's burnt off, you know. The back part."

"And what, this is your way of putting it off?" Alfred whispered feebly, and chuckled along with Matt. "Don't cry, Mattie. Please, don't cry."

"You would, too, if the same thing happened to me," Matt sniffed, and wiped his eyes.

"Probably. And you'd say the same thing." Alfred raised his head, and knocked it softly against Matt's. "Idiot. I'm fine."

Matt sniffed. "Okay." He looked up, and turned to Nat. "I'm sorry."

Nat just shook her head dumbly, unable to say anything. She watched as Om squatted where he stood. "May I approach you, Mathew?"

Matt blushed a bright red, completely embarrassed. "Y…Yes."

Om rose, walked over, and squatted again at where Matt was holding Alfred in his lap. "I am very sorry, Mathew, Alfred. I shall explain everything to the best of my abilities. I would like to request you to have some patience with me. Will you oblige?"

"T-The demon dude's pretty angry with you, bro," Alfred said. "Never felt him be so pissed before.

Nat, Shree and Raj's mouths dropped at Alfred informal address to Om, but Om just smiled his pleasant smile. "Is that so? Well, please convey my apologies. I was just assessing whether the demon was hostile and malicious towards you."

"Is he?"

Om shook his head. "He seems to be quite fond of you. He shall never admit that, though. But whatever may be the case, he shall not willingly harm you." Om pressed his hand down on the top of Alfred's head, and Alfred felt his weariness vanish in an instant.

He sprung up, and looked at Om with amazement. "How did you do that?" he asked.

Om just continued to smile, and rose. He turned around, and resumed his seat. "Please, all of you, be seated."

On either side of Om, starting from the platform he sat on, two rows of narrow mats ran parallel to each other, with a cushion to sit on at regular intervals. Nat sat Gilbert and Eliza on the same row as hers, while Matt and Alfred sat on the opposite row. Raj sat on the same row as Nat, while Shree sat opposite him, both of them on the cushion right before Om.

"My name is Om. I serve as the position of Head Priest and Spiritual Master in the _Shankha Mandira_, or the Temple of the Conch. We are called that because our rituals and teachings begin and end with the blowing of the Conch, which is a special type of seashell," he said. "This is Raj Sharma, and she is Shree Sharma. Both of them are twins, and are my younger siblings. If you look at their arms, they have the symbol of a conch tattooed on their upper arm. That is our symbol.

"Raj and Shree are my right and my left arms. And as an ambidextrous person," he said, his eyes twinkling merrily, "I need both my arms equally. Elizabeta, would you like to ask me something?"

"…Umm, yes. Which House do you come under?" Eliza asked.

"We do not come under any House," Om said, and turned to Nat. "My dear, I believe you would like to explain."

"_Dy, Duruni_," she said, and turned to Eliza. "What almost all the Houses uniformly believe is that our origins come from the Temple of the Conch. Our eight disciplines are just subsets of the discipline that was originally laid down by the priests of this temple ages ago."

"So, basically, these guys are the main dudes and the rest of you follow what they do?" Alfred asked.

Nat looked at him. "Yes and no. We don't follow what they do. They practice a singular discipline. That one discipline was divided into eight parts based on context, and each sub-discipline was adopted into a House."

"We aren't considered a House," Shree said, and everyone turned to her. "There are certain rules and regulations which need to be followed in order to be called a House. We don't follow any of them."

"Nor do we dictate or interfere in the matters of other Houses," Raj added. "Our discipline is the original one, but each House is dictated by its own discipline. We do not consider ourselves superior or as the rulers of any of the Houses. We are separate entities from the Houses."

"That is about us as a temple, and how we differ from other Houses," Om concluded, and all eyes went on him. "Now, having made that clear, I would like to proceed to explain to you how all of you came to be seated before me, or the circumstances which brought all of us together today. But before I do so," he said, his smile fading, "I am very sorry for all the pain you have had to face. I am truly, very sorry." He proceeded to bow, and the action drew sharp reprimand from the Sharma twins as well as Natalya.

"Om, stop! You shouldn't bow to anyone, you know that!" Shree scolded him.

"_Duruni,_ whatever you reasons may be, do not bow before us," Nat pleaded.

"Do you wish harm to befall them?" Raj asked quietly, and Om rose from his incomplete bow.

"No, I don't," Om said. "I'm not bowing before them as Om, but as a person who has done them harm by not being able to foresee this."

"You can't foresee everything," Shree said. "You aren't _Aniyamma._ And even she can't foresee everything."

"Who's what's-her-name?" Alfred whispered to Shree.

"She's…umm…you call her an oracle, in your language," Shree offered. "That's the best I can explain."

"Ah, it's cool," Alfred said, and sat back. He turned to Matt. "It's an oracle."

"Instead of worrying about the past, explain it to them so that they know what they have to do in the future," Raj advised, and Om nodded. "Yes. You are right, Raj. I shall explain to them."

Om closed his eyes for a while, meditating on all that had occurred over the past four years. He opened his eyes, and looked at all of them.

"Let us begin."

* * *

**A/T: The belief is that if a person who is spiritually accomplished and at a much higher level than another person, then bowing before the second person will cause great harm to the second person, and ill-fortune and danger will befall the second person. That is why Nat, Shree and Raj prevent Om from bowing before them.**

**If you remember about the ninth room Alfred asked Natalya while they were at the sub temple of the House of Snow near Ellyse, that room is reserved for the priests from the Temple of Conch. In Sanksrit or Hindi, Shankha (Sh from shell, an from annoyed, kha...does not have an English reference I can think of) means Conch, and Mandira (Ma from mum, n from nun, di...also doesn't have an English reference I can think of, ra from Ra, the Egyptian God) means temple. So, basically, conch temple.**

**Trying to get people to pronounce words in Indian languages with reference to other languages is quite hard. The thing is, in all Indian languages I can think of (and there are a lot), pronunciation is very important. Unlike in English, which has 5 vowels and 19 consonants in its alphabet, languages like Hindi have 13 vowels and 33 consonants. This isn't a 'my-language-is-greater-than-yours' bragging segment, that is not the point I'm trying to make. A lot of emphasis is given for sound - almost every kind of sound has its own alphabet or symbol. So when you have a word, it is made from specific letters, together which give a specific sound. **

**For example, in Kannada, a South Indian language, there is a word 'haelu'. The difference in the way you pronounce the 'lu' sound gives two different meanings - one is talk, and another is the action of pooping, or poop itself. It's hilarious if you get the sound wrong, which is what usually happens. **

**On an added note, Sanksrit, one of the oldest languages in the world, has derivations for even the sounds that make up a word. If you have a word, even if it as short as 'atma' or 'avatar', each sound has its own derivation. The meaning of that particular word comes from the derivations of its individual syllables. It's a very fascinating language to study. No language can be learnt by looking at a dictionary, which is why people have a miserable time trying to learn Indian languages from dictionaries. **

**Language discourse complete! ^-^**

**I love studying languages - it's my favourite thing to do. I'm trying to learn Japanese, so I bought a book, and I failed miserably. Now, I'm going on YouTube, and looking at the tutorial videos of JapanSocietyNYC. Those guys are really good, I think, at least for beginners like me. And the alphabet derivation is also present in languages like Japanese and Chinese, and all other languages I don't know, as well. It's a study in itself if you wish to make it.**

**Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. See you next chapter!**

**Love,**

**R. K. Iris.**


	11. The Sharma siblings

**A/T: Hi everybody! *dodges all the rotten tomatoes and eggs and the occasional brick***

**I know I deserve all of that, but if you have the patience, I'll let you know after the chapter. I've put off putting up this chapter long enough, so, on with the story.**

**A big shoutout to all the lovely people who left reviews - Thank you so much, Pinkdoughnuts and Apple Cake (now I'm hungry) for leaving reviews! I know I'm a bad person, but please leave reviews if you read, people! It makes me happy! **

**Don't own anything except the story and the characters I'll be making up on the way. The rest is all Hetalia, and I wouldn't dare otherwise.**

* * *

**Chapter 11**

"Mind the wound," Nat warned, and Shree looked at her as if she was crazy.."I'm cleaning your wound, Nat. I _shouldn't_ mind it."

Nat braced herself, and hissed in pain when Shree patted it slowly with a damp cloth. Shree hummed a song as she cleaned Nat's wound, and Shree's throaty voice calmed Nat down. It had the same effect even back in the days of their training as future deputies, whenever Nat felt homesick. The two had been roommates in the Academy, and had also been classmates. Shree had been one of Nat's closest friends in her own age group, and had stayed that way all those years.

Shree stopped humming at the knock on the door, and both of them looked towards the door, Nat looking over her shoulder.

"We're a bit busy," Shree said, to which Nat asked her, "Who's there?"

"Your friends and Om."

"It's if importance, my dears," Om said. "Natalya, with your permission, I shall tell you everything from the doorway."

Nat heard Alfred go, "Aw, dude! Why can't we go in?" and Raj hushing him loudly. She bit down a smile, and looked at Om. "You can come inside and sit down. Just...stay on that side of the room."

Om nodded, and turned to the others in the corridor to say something to them. Nat grabbed the sheets and held them to her bare chest. From the corner of her eye, she saw Shree grinning, and narrowed her eyes. "Ei. What?"

"Nothing," Shree singsonged, and continued to medicate Nat's wound. Nat rolled her eyes, and heard all of them come in.

The room was well furnished to one side, and Nat thanked her stars that her back was facing that way. They all sat down, growing quiet all of a sudden upon entering the room, probably on seeing her bare back, Nat assumed. Even Alfred managed to tone down, an accomplishment for him. Shree greeted everyone in the room one after another with a smile or a nod, and picked up the medication paste.

"After deliberate thought," Om began, "I have come to certain conclusions. I would like to share them with you all."

Nat made no indication of acknowlegdment, but Shree nodded for the both of them, and Om continued.

"Natalya, you and your companions shall stay here until your wound heals. With the doctors and medicines available here, you should be fine in a week's time. During that time, our priests here will chart out a course for you, as well as a new, more secure barricade nonagram to keep demons from other Realms, from reaching here for some time. While it's stronger than the standard barricade Katyusha charted out, its potency is for a far shorter time. I feel that the risk is worth it, since I know of your competence, Natalya.

"In the meantime, I shall try to communicate with the demon, and" -

"He doesn't want to talk."

Except for Nat and Om, all eyes turned to Alfred, who had spoken. Alfred slid his glasses up his nose, frowning. "He doesn't want to talk to anybody."

"Did he tell you that specifically?" Om asked calmly.

"Well, he doesn't _talk_ per say, like, we don't communicate like that. But I can tell, somehow. He's very insistent.

"We want to help him go back to his Realm, to his home," Om said, and raised his hand when Raj opened his mouth to talk."

"He says he'll only talk to Natalya, or anyone Natalya trusts. He won't talk to you, though. Sorry," Alfred said apologetically, and caught Raj muttering something about talking disrespectfully.

"No, it's quite alright. Thank you, Alfred," Om said, smiling. "That leaves only one person, then. When they leave, you will go with them, Shree."

"Me?" Shree squeaked, and pressed Nat's wound with a little more pressure than necessary, causing Nat to howl in pain. All of them rose, but Om sat them down, and walked to Nat, who seemed to be cursing incessantly in her native tongue.

"Would you mind if I bandaged you, Natalya?" Om asked quietly.

"_Dy._ If she does that one more time," Nat hissed through clenched teeth, "I'll forget we're friends."

Om smiled. "You could never forget that," he said, taking the pot of ointment from Shree. He gently applied the ointment on the rest of the wound, his movements soothing Nat.

"I was thinking about this, but I felt I would be doing the wrong thing if I didn't ask you first, Shree," Om said, putting the pot down and picking the bandage, holding the roll and the unwound stretch of cloth in either hand. "You are one of the few people who has honed the gift of being able to travel through another's mind at your will. If we must realize the full intention of Johnny Doe's contract with this demon, we must train someone to communicate with the demon at will, and have it respond. That person, I feel, is Alfred."

"Me?" Alfred squeaked, pointing at himself with his thumb.

"You are the closest link to the demon, Alfred. IF the demon needed to trust someone, it would be you. After you, it is Natalya. Unfortunately, Natalya travels your mind with great risk to herself, for if she is not able to return, she will have to be exorcised. Shree can enter and leave her person's mind, and if er were to teach Natalya starting from this very moment, it would take far too long, far longer than we have. For as long as you stay here, Shree could try to establish communication with the demon, but in case it doesn't happen, she could teach you how to do it. That will take longer than the time it will take Natalya to heal. In such a case, if Shree came with you, it would help you to establish a connection with the demon. She could train you to work with the demon, to understand it properly. It is what we need happening at the earliest."

Silence ensued, broken periodically by Nat's heavy, pained breathing.

"If she doesn't go?" Alfred asked.

"IF she doesn't go, I will come," Om said quietly, "and Raj and Shree will take over my place."

"I will go, Alfred, _Duruni_," Shree said, and got up. "I'll need some time to start working." With a bow to Om, she walked out of the room.

"Where is she off to?" Alfred asked.

"Library, probably," Nat said, and looked up at Om, who had finished bandaging her shoulder. She picked up the shirt lying next to her, and carefully pulled it over her head with Om's help, talking as she wore her shirt. "There's a lot of reading involved behind what she will have to do later."

Matt got up and hurried off, and Nat, who had turned around by then, stared awhile in bemusement. She slowly shook her head, and turned to those seated. "Raj, please show them around. Send someone to me after sometime - I shall make a list of supplies that we need to take."

Raj nodded, and looked at the remaining three. "I shall show you around the temple." He rose, bowed at Om, and left the room as well, with the three following behind him.

"You aren't leaving anytime soon, Natalya," Om said, in Natalya's native tongue.

Nat responded in kind. "I know. But it's better for me to keep myself busy in a time where I need to be busy."

"You need rest, Natalya. That wound will heal quicker if you rest," Om said, and tuned towards the door. "I shall do the thinking for you, Natalya, only if you agree to rest."

Nat gritted her teeth, and pulled aside the bedcovers with her able hand. Without a word, she got under the covers and pulled it to her nose. "I feel like a child."

Om chuckled. "That is not so much of a bad thing as you feel it to be, Natalya. Only children know how to laugh from the heart." With a smile, he left the room and left Nat wondering about the meaning behind his words.

* * *

Matt was absolutely blown away by the sheer expanse of the library. The titles were in various languages, and were arranged topic-wise and language-wise. Matt recognized most of the languages, having had to master them over a span of five years as a teenager. He pulled out a volume, and went through the pages. It seemed to be a commentary on a previous title, and was filled with all sorts of definitions, and words that were directly translated into the commentator's language. Matt replaced the book, and carefully read the cover titles of various books that followed.

Matt shook his head suddenly in the middle of the fifth volume that he had pulled out and was going through. He buried his head into the yellowed pages with a chuckle, and rested his head on the book for a while. His head was full of thoughts, and then not at all. He didn't know what to think, or what to believe. With a sigh, he raised his head, and closed the book.

Time to go find the dusky warrior-priestess.

Matt walked through the corridors, his fingers lightly running over the engravings of the shelves. He realized that no part of the space within and without the temple was wasted. Somehow, it all contributed to the sense of calm and serenity he felt in each temple. Even though every bit of space was used, it never felt cluttered.

The corridor opened up to an array of tables arranged in a circle, on side of which were shelves of books encircling the arrangement of tables. And at one such table was seated a sleeping Shree, surrounded by tomes and tomes of fat volumes.

Matt walked towards the table, his eyes, shifting from reading the volume titles to looking at the sleeping priestess. In sleep, she and Natalya looked very alike - both of them slept with their hair open, and both of them covered their faces while they slept. Matt quietly sat down in front of her and picked up a volume, absently noting her lush, pitch-black hair, and began to read.

It was about Realms, something he remembered Natalya and Priestess Katyusha talking about when they'd first met. The language of the explanation was simple, and the more Matt read, the more he grew absorbed into the book. So deeply engrossed he was that he felt the prick of Shree's gaze long after she'd begun to stare at him.

He looked up from the book, and found her brown eyes looking at him curiously. "How long have you been sitting here?"

Matt shook his head, his untied curls bouncing around his face. "I have no idea. I just started reading this book..."

Shree's eyes widened as she looked at how much Matt had finished. "You have read so much"-

"Oh, no. I just read very fast," Matt explained, embarrassed for no reason he could think of except that she felt she'd slept for a long time because he'd nearly finished a quarter of a book, but it was just that he read really fast, and plus she'd been sleeping before he'd come and - okay, he really needed to stop his mental rant before he started blabbering before her.

Shree rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "Still. I must have been sleeping for a while now. What are you reading?" she asked, and reached out to the book. She raised the book and read the title. "Do you actually know how to read the text?"

"I was trained in several languages when I was younger," Matt said, making note of the page number before putting the book down.

Shree kept staring at him, but before he could ask her what was so interesting on his head, she began to speak. "You don't look a lot like him."

"Excuse me?" Matt asked.

"You don't look a lot like him. Your brother does, however. He's a splitting image of your father."

Matt felt a rush of tumultous emotions, in the face of which all he could do was chuckle. His laugh, however, had none of the humour he was usually disposed of.

He runned his face wearily, and looked up at Shree. "It's nothing," he said in answer to the look on Shree's face. "All of this...I don't know what to feel about my father anymore." He looked back up at Shree, and he didn't know what made him continue - must have been the look on her face. "Alfred...hates his guts. Always has, and I don't blame him. But, for me...he was a good father. And now...I don't know anymore."

"If he was a good father, then you don't have to think any further," Shree said. "What he has done to some of us was not as his decision as a father. They were his decisions as an individual. Whatever they were, don't forget your father."

Matt looked at Shree, wanting to ask her something, but he...he was scared of the answer. Shree recognized and understood the look on his face. With a small, sympathetic smile, she said, "It's okay. When does Alfred go to sleep?"

"In the afternoon?" he asked. She nodded. "Probably in...a couple of hours.""Let me know when he does. Until then, I'm not moving anywhere. And no, I don't mind if you stay here with me," Shree said, observing the look on Matt's face. He had a very expressive face that didn't hide any of the anxiety that he felt at different points in a conversation.

The only other person she knew with a face so expressive was Om. But, then again, the only expression on Om's face was tranquility and happiness, so maybe Om didn't count as much. Still, for someone she had just met, she was able to read his immediate expressions quite well. Or...was there more to Matt than anyone could say?

It would be interesting to know exactly who this curious, expressive person truly was.

* * *

'I don't want her in.'

'_What are you talking about?'_

'That dark woman. I don't want her in here.'

'_Do I look like I have a choice in any of this? Bro, I haven't had a choice from the day I got this mark.'_

'Are you alright keeping your choiceless existence that way? Are you alright listening to others dictate your actions? Are you going to remain a puppet? Are you"-

'_Stop it._'

'It is true. You are weak. You are a puppet - no, you are fit to be a puppet. You are' -

"Stop it, demon."

_I opened my eyes, and recognized the priestess's buddy walking towards me. The demon, unlike me or the priestess or her buddy, did not have a body - he was invisible, but I could _feel _him there...like a presence. No, no, not a ghost - a _presence.

_The demon growled at her, but I could feel he was scared of her. She could, too, for she didn't stop walking towards me. She sat down with her legs folded, and smiled at me._

Woah. _She was pretty, in an exotic way. She had a really cute smile._

"My name is Shree Sharma. I come from a long line of priests and priestesses working in the Shankha Mandira. My father was the Om before the current one. My mother is the Head Priestess for the Shankha Mandira in the south. And I'm here to help you help each other" -

'We do not need your help' -

"If you didn't, you would not still be within Alfred. We wish to help ourselves, Demon, and also help you. Do not be a hindrance to what we do." _She looked over my head as she spoke to him, and I wondered if she could actually see him, or whether it was just me._

"I am going to tell you everything about myself now."

_I looked at her. She sounded like she wasn't going to leave out any single dirty secret of hers, which wasn't the normal behavior of someone who's just known me for around a day. Hell, I don't tell me dirty secrets to someone I've know for years, let alone someone I've known for a day._

'Someone like your brother,' _the demon said out loud, and Shree looked at both of us, confused. Damn this demon back to where it came from._

"Anyways," _Shree continued_, "why I am doing this is simple. I need you to understand that whatever I might - no, will tell you can be used against me. I shall not leave anything out. But, you will be able to use nothing against me, because if I have the courage to tell you, then I have the courage to tell anyone else you may tell it to. I give you the power to destroy me, but, in the end, it is useless against me itself." _Shree laughed a little. _"You do not follow me, Alfred?"

_I think I did, and I told her so._

"I'll show you. And if the two of you feel it's of any use, then you can try it too, with each other. I'm not here to teach you to gain control over the other. I want you to know that you two can live with each other, for however long you have to."

_The Demon seemed to be subdued now - he wasn't as angry. That's when it hit me - I didn't know. I didn't know if the Demon was a he or she. I didn't know the Demon's name. I didn't know if the Demon was old or young, if he/she had children, or someone to love._

_I knew nothing about someone who lived in my own head._

"We know even less about our own head," the demon said. "We're scared to open up to our own selves. Unless we can tell ourselves who we are, there is no possibility where we could truly explain ourselves to others."

"It's a fear which can be surpassed easily, but only if we decide to do so," _Shree said_. "I was probably worse than both of you when it comes to stubbornness," _she chuckled_, "but, in this profession, to have faith in someone you see...as different from you, you must have faith in yourself. I'm not here for that. I want both of you to know it's possible to hold complete power in a powerless situation, and I want you to trust me. So, here it is. I am Shree, and this is my story."

* * *

Nat woke up, and rubbed her eyes blearily. She remembered opening her eyes many times in between her sleep, but she wasn't sure if it was a dream or not. She slept a drugged sleep, and she wasn't sure if it was day, night or a week later - Nat remembered having slept a week away after returning immediately from the deputy training, and waking up with a burning hunger. She lazily stretched, feeling the soft sheets shift under her. She was capable of sleeping almost anywhere, but there was a certain sense of luxury she felt in sleeping in a soft bed, a certain feeling of...being pampered. She'd ever rarely felt that.

She felt her eyes drawing shut, and sh didn't bother fighting it. With a yawn, she rolled on her uninjured side and lay motionless, enjoying the feel of the sheets.

"Feeling better?"

She hummed in response, and opened her eyes. If it was possible for her to relax even further, at the sound of Om's voice, she did. She slowly urged herself into a sitting position, and smiled at him. "Much better. What day is it?" she asked in her native tongue.

Om chuckled. "The same day, Natalya. I sensed you to have stirred, so I came to wake you up."

Nat stretched her uninjured arm, and swung her feet onto the ground. "What now?"

"You must relax after you have just woken up, Natalya, but you will not practice that," Om sighed. "Now, you rest and regain your strength. Shree is working with your friend, Alfred" -

"He's not my friend," Natalya muttered.

\- "and his brother Matt can read the texts in the library, almost all of them."

"Really?" Nat asked, frowning.

"Yes. And did you know Gilbert is a doctor?"

Nat didn't bother replying - she just stared at Om in shock. "A doctor."

"Yes, a doctor. He was Alfred Jones Senior's physician."

"He doesn't look like a doctor," Nat muttered, but the point Om was trying to make was loud and clear. With a sigh, he picked her shirt lying on the side of the bed, and pulled it onto herself. "What are the rest of them doing?" she asked, pulling on a pair of slacks.

"Alfred is with Shree. The other three are in different parts of the library, studying. What will you do?"

Nat walked around the room, and pulled up a staff. "I'm going to find Raj, and train."

"But your arm" -

"I still have the rest of my body which is perfectly alright. I'll...I'll stick to what I'm good at, Om."

Om understood exactly what her point was. She wasn't comfortable talking to people to get to know them, and she took her own time in finding out about people. And if she understood that she had to get to know them, if for nothing else but just because they would be together for a while, he wouldn't bring it up again. And he was sure she understood.

"He's in the dojo. I'm sure he would appreciate a partner."

"I'll make sure he does," Nat said quietly, and with a bow to Om, she left the room.

With a quiet smile on his face, Om left the room as well, with a single thought in his mind.

_How curious these children are._

* * *

**A/T: Yeah, so if you still have the mindframe to forgive me, here it is:**

**My laptop's gone whack. I previously didn't have it with me in the hostel (I don't live at home now; I live in the hostel, which has very limited wifi), and when I took it with me, it worked for about two hours before it stopped working. It refused to switch on, and I had to give it to servicing. I continued to write down chapters - I'm mid chapter 13 right now - but I had no way to upload them, since does not have the services to allow me to upload via mobile, or I don't know how to do that, so if someone knows how to upload via mobile, PM me. Please.**

**And college is...tough. I won't go so far as to say I'm depressed, because I have been in depression and how I'm feeling now is nowhere close to how I was feeling way back when. But yes, I'm having a bit of a tough time - I'm away from home, living in a hostel for the first time and having to do everything on my own. A lot of people do it all the time, but it's my first time, and although I am doing my dream course (I'm doing veterinary science) it's been...a bit disappointing, if I must say. I love the course - I love what I'm learning, and most of all the classes feel like I'm coming to a room, listening to stuff that I love, and going out. It's like that. The people and the mentality...I'll admit to you, and only you - I hate it. I absolutely hate it, because I have never encountered such people in my life, and the amount of politics and narrow-mindedness exists...I don't know what I was expecting, but in terms of environment, mentality and people, this definitely was not it. Ever. My roomie's a darling, and I love her, and I've found some good friends, but I'm dealing with stuff right now.**

**Basically, this rant was to tell you that I got caught up in finding my place in my new college that the fact I didn't have my laptop escaped me. And by the time I remembered and started using it, it stopped working. And when I gave it for servicing, I had to start preparing for exams around the same time I was supposed to get back to the person servicing it, so it's been a really long time since I've seen it. I've got a new laptop, and I'm writing on that right now, but I still want my old laptop back because ALL MY STUFF IS ON THAT AND IF I DON'T HAVE IT I DON'T KNOW WHAT I WILL DO.**

**So yeah, kinda dying on the inside right now.**

**But it's not all that bad...I've got my holidays going on now. I'm going to make sure I get a data card to take with me to Manipal (I'm going next week! Yippee!) so that I can upload chapters there. I will try to be as consistent as I can, and give a warning before I randomly disappear for a long time.**

**I'm really sorry, guys. I'll try to make it up to you the best I can.**

**All my love,**

**R. K. Iris.**


	12. Nothing under the blanket

**A.T.: I like this chapter ;) :P And you'll know why, too. Go ahead and read it.**

**And I'm really sorry, for two reasons - a. too many swear words in the word-translation section, and b. not sure if all of them are correct/in use slang/appropriately used. Not very sorry about the first reason, but I'm quite sorry about the second one, so yeah.**

**I don't own Hetalia or its characters, but this story and any character outside Hetalia are mine. So there.**

* * *

Vyradak - Bel - B*****d

Idyjot - Bel - Idiot

Mudak - Bel - A*****e

Práklon - Bel - Dammit

O boža - Bel - Oh God

Kehenchin - - leader

* * *

Chapter 12

Alfred just stood at the door, watching them move. It was fluid, the way they traversed around the hall. But his eyes were fixated on Natalya. He knew it, and he wasn't ashamed to admit it anymore. After Shree and left his mind and gone to take rest, Alfred had laid there, staring at the ceiling, thinking about what Shree had said.

Shree had said everything. From the day she was born till now to what she felt about everyone she knew - she didn't leave anything out. She even told him what she'd felt about him, leaving nothing hidden.

She'd been the first person he'd admitted to about feeling something peculiar towards Natalya. He felt that he could tell her, since she had told him everything. She explained it to him - since she could trust herself, she could trust him as well. Alfred didn't know what that was about, but whatever it was, he trusted her. He always felt he could trust her. Maybe. He didn't remember what he thought before. Whatever.

The point was, he felt something, but he didn't know what it was...or wasn't. He just knew that whenever he went into a room, she was the first person he would search for, without realising it.

It was strange, but when he thought about it, not so much. It had been a very long time since he'd been in close proximity to anyone, let alone an attractive woman around his age. And he wasn't attracted to her body so much as he was to _her. _She honestly wasn't normal - she had guns strapped to her hips, a holster full of knives strapped all across her torso, and an irritated look on her face, as if everyone in the world were vermin. But if he ever needed her, she would be there.

And he loved irritating her until she stuck a knife in his face. He was crazy to find that cute, since she had the power to drive that slender knife right through someone's skull, but he did.

Right now, he watched Natalya duel with Raj, using only one arm to fight. She was using her legs to attack, and her uninjured arm to defend. She and Raj seemed to be at par, and they traversed the length of the large hall. She kept her injured shoulder away from Raj, and nothing he did got her to lower her defence on her injured area.

Both of them stopped, and stared at each other, chests heaving. Nat moved back, not letting her guard down, but he noticed she was flexing her injured arm slowly.

"That's not fair," Alfred said, walking into the room. The two of them turned to him, and Alfred noticed the faint smile which was on Raj's face vanish once he registered Alfred's presence.

"What is not fair, Jones?" Nat asked between short breaths.

"Having to fight an injured patient like you," he said cheekily, and smiled smugly when Nat's eyes narrowed.

"I can keep up, with or without injuries, Jones," she said, her tone dropping much lower than it already was.

"But still, it's unfair to you, ya know. So what about I team up with you against Mr Raj?"

"N"-

"Yes, why not?" Raj agreed, cutting Nat off, his faint smile reappearing back on his face. "I would like that."

"See?" Alfred told Nat, who began to glare at him. "It'll be fun."

Nat started questioning Raj and he responded back in the same language, one Alfred didn't understand.

"Woah, woah, woah. Foreign language - don't understand - talk normally," Alfred said, and Raj smiled properly at him, probably for the first time.

"Let us talk later. Let us fight now," Raj said. "Would you like a staff?"

He had no idea how to use it. "Nah, I'm cool."

"I shall use a staff, then, if you don't mind."

Woah. This guy was polite. "Nah, it's okay. You go ahead."

Nat smirked, but Alfred had no idea why she was suddenly being so smug.

"Okay, then. Let us begin," Raj said, and got into a stance.

Raj took a step forward, and brought the staff down towards Alfred. Alfred stepped back, and Nat checked Raj's staff before it could reach Alfred. Alfred moved forward, and swung at Raj, but Raj stepped sideways to dodge it, then used his staff to defend himself against Nat's blow. He raised the staff anf helf it with one hand, causing Nat to lose balance of her staff over his, and used his free arm to divert Alfred's next punch. He spun the staff, knocking Nat's off, and drove it at Nat. Nat blocked it, and Raj raised the lower end of the staff to counter Alfred's blow.

And so it went on - Raj taking the offensive with one just to take the defensive with the other. They moved back and forth, until Raj, with a growl, grabbed the middle of his staff with both hands and spun it around, advancing forward, pushing both Alfred and Nat back. Nat narrowed her eyes, and at the right moment, stuck her staff in. With a grunt, she bore the force of her staff in her able hand, while Alfred attacked. But Raj was on the offensive with both of them now - he parried and attacked simultaneously, now making use of his legs to dart in kicks.

Alfred growled, and instead of moving back, he stood ground. He grabbed the staff instead of moving back, and swung the staff up, uprooting an unsuspecting Raj off the ground and into midair. Raj quickly gained control, and using the staff as a balance, sent a kick at Alfred's head. Alfred let go of the staff and stepped back, and Raj used the momentum of the kick to land back on his feet gracefully.

"Wow," Raj said, taking deep breaths, "you are powerful."

"Well, in that case, I think it's unfair on you, for us to fight you two on one," Alfred drawled through deep breaths, and watched Raj's smile grow more visible.

"Alfred, I know what you are trying to do, and it's not going to work," he said. "If one of us doesn't land a blow on the other in this next bout, then I shall team up with Natalya and we shall fight you."

Alfred's grin frew pronounced. "I don't have a problem, either way." He crouched slightly, and waited for Raj to get in his stance. He tuned his senses to Nat, waited for her to take the lead.

She didn't disappoint him. She moved forward, swung her staff down. Raj blocked and shifted his weight to defend himself from Alfred's kick. Raj swung his staff around, swept it at Alfred's ankles, shifting him back. And then he moved in on Nat.

The clash of wood against wood reverberated in the entire room, and there was almost no time between two strikes. Raj with both his hands, Nat with her single arm - both of them were equally matched. Alfred had no time to get in between their duel - they were moving too fast for him to follow.

He knew that Nat was absorbing the shock of the strikes, just as Raj was. But Raj had the liberty to absorb it through his entire system - Nat had to try to restrict it to her working arm. And she was growing tired.

Alfred saw the opening in Nat the same time as Raj. Raj brought his staff down, and Alfred got in between them just before the staff landed.

_Crash!_

Raj gasped, and Nat's mouth fell open as she watched the smashed pieces of wood fly in different directions. Alfred grinned evilly, and turned around. He kicked the fallen half of Raj's staff into his hand, and juggled it in one hand. "This staff isn't as strong as I thought it was."

"T-The s-staff...broke..." Nat whispered, dumbstruck, completely forgetting about the duel and her aching uninjured arm. She swore loudly in her native language, and Alfred turned to her. "Now, now, priestess, it doesn't become of you to swear like a sailor."

"How did it break?" Raj asked, his face's expression changing from confused to curious. "Even if I were to hit it against a brick wall a hundred times, it wouldn't crack."

"I'm strong," Alfred said nonchalantly, as if it didn't really matter, and Nat snorted her disagreement. He turned to her, grabbed her staff and yanked her to him. "I'm very strong," he murmured, eyes locked in hers.

"Let go of my staff, _vyradak, _or I will have to show you you are not all that strong," Nat growled, and with a cheeky grin, Alfred let go of her staff.

Nat was mentally shaken. He had enough power to physically lift Raj off the ground, and pull her out of her stance. And the staff...it broke like a twig.

If nothing else, he could take a house down with brute strength.

"Hello. What's going on?"

They turned to the door, and saw Matt standing there

"Hey, broski," Alfred greeted Matt, who was removing his shoes. Matt smiled at Alfred, and walked towards the three of them.

"Mathew," Raj asked, "what is the biggest thing Alfred could destroy?"

Matt blinked in surprise and turned to Alfred, who said, "They're talking of my strength, broski."

"Oh. _Oh._ Okay," Matt said. "He could take down anything under a hundred-so tons. Easily. I guess he'd have a problem lifting anything about two hundred tons, I think."

"Nah. I could take two hundred," Alfred said nonchalantly.

Matt snorted. "No, you couldn't."

"Yes, I could."

"No, you couldn't."

"I can take you on."

"That doesn't make sense."

"You pack around two hundred tons of force. _Used _to."

"Alfred, don't provoke me."

"Well, how should I know if you still pack that much power?"

"That _is_ true," Matt admitted, "but that isn't the point. The point is" -

"That I can take you on and you're a chicken if you don't accept." Looking at Matt's face, Alfred protested, "Matt, c'mon! It's been so long!"

"I haven't had practice."

"Neither have I," Alfred said, to which Matt quickly retorted, "Liar."

"Mattie, come on!"

"Okay, okay," Matt said, and loosened his shift at the neck. "I hope I don't die."

Alfred grinned evilly at that, and Matt signed resignedly.

Raj and Nat had stepped back, and watched as Alfred and Matt both crouched, Matt with a look of pure regret, and Alfred with the face of a predator.

Alfred charged at Matt, and Matt instantly went flying on contact.

Raj and Nat cringed together. Alfred had put his full force behind that charge, and Matt had flown like a leaf in a gale.

"You aren't trying!" Alfred yelled angrily at Matt, who was getting up.

Matt picked up his glasses, and put them on. "I was so scared...I thought my glasses were going to break." He looked at Alfred's scowl, and grinned. "You've grown a lot stronger. And, now, I know just how much stronger you've grown to be."

Alfred blinked, and smiled as understanding dawned slowly. "You took me on a test drive."

Matt smiled. "So to speak."

"Well, broski,"he said as they both got ready, "how about taking a real drive now?"

* * *

"Your companions are...very strong," Raj said.

Nat snorted softly. "They're monsters. Both of them."

"I didn't think both of them possessed such brute strength," Raj said. "And he wasn't using the demon within him, either."

That was nagging Nat, actually, and she knew that was the reason Raj brought it up. As they walked to the mess for dinner, Nat thought about how it was possible for Alfred or Matt to survive even a bulletshot, and thought about her first encounter with Alfred Jones Sr. Maybe his surviving her bullets and still being able to move has less to do with the demon and more to do with the brute strength he had passed down to his sons.

She thought about Alfred and Matt's duel. The room had shook every time they clashed, shoulder to shoulder or arm to arm. Their blows were fast and powerful, their blocks strong and efficient. Somewhere in the middle, both their knee length shifts tore, and both of them completely tore them off themselves.

Even as she thought about it now, she gasped softly, which was better than how her jaw had dropped and her breath had stopped when she'd seen Matt's bare torso and Alfred in a vest and loose pants. Both of them were lean and muscular, Matt being more buff between the two. Watching the two of them fight was like watching two elephant bulls fight, both of different personalities, but matched strength.

"What has you attention so completely riveted?"

Nat shook her head, and looked at Raj. He was a really serious and very quiet person, but he was an absolute gentleman, and a lot of fun to be with. He had been with her during her days in the Academy, as had Shree, and he was one of the few people who had not been scared of her from the start. He didn't talk anywhere close to as much as Shree did, but he said whatever was pertinent or necessary, and he always performed his duties to the utmost perfection.

Between the three of them, he was always the overstable one, stuck between a hyper sister and a permanently irritated best friend. She would never tell him, but he was one of the very, very few people she trusted her life with. But, she had a feeling he knew.

"I was thinking of Johnny Doe, and wondered whether he was as strong as his sons."

"He lived for so long with a demon in him. I say he passed down half his strength."

"And these two aren't his only sons," Nat said thoughtfully.

"Actually...that may not be true," Raj said.

"What do you mean?"

"He doesn't seem like the kind of person who would have children with anyone he met and leave them to be."

"He bound his demon to his son," Nat deadpanned, and Raj shrugged.

"I just think it's only Matt and Alfred. Om would have mentioned something if there were any others.

"How would their presence matter, once we know that Alfred carries the demon?"

"The same way Mathew's does. Natalya, if this has to end quickly, you need to tall to your companions."

"I don't talk, Raj. I only spoke to you after knowing you for a year."

"Well, make an effort. If you really must end what that man has started, then you must talk to those who have been affected by him. Each person who you travel with will have something to tell you. You must ask them."

Nat kept quiet, and they almost reached the entrance of the mess.

"Did Om put you on my case?" she muttered.

Raj chucked. "You sound like a child, Nat. It is only what I have observed, and I feel I must tell you." He sighed. "It's okay. It'll happen slowly. I hope."

Nat grimaced, and Raj chuckled. "Let's go eat, my dear," he said, and allowed her to lead the way.

* * *

"Hey, Shree. Can I ask you something?"

Shree looked at Alfred, who had appeared out of nowhere. "You can, Alfred. What is troubling you?"

"I'm just curious. How long have you known the priestess?"

Shree could feign innocence as to not knowing who the 'priestess' was, but she knew. "I've know her nearly ten years now. I mean, we've been friends for that long. I knew her before, too."

"How didja guys meet?"

"Ten years ago? We were roommates, at the Academy."

"So...she's known your brother for that long?"

Ohh. She kind of saw where this was going. "A little less longer than she has known me."

"So, for almost 10 years, then?"

"Alfred..."

"Does he like her?' he asked quickly.

"Why? What makes you think that?"

"They _smile_ at each other. And both of them _never _smile."

Shree frowned, trying to hide the fact that she wanted to burst out laughing. "They both smile at me, too."

"Shree..." Alfred trailed off, irritated. "She was your roommate and he's your brother. They _have_ to smile at you."

"You think they like each other?" Shree asked.

"Yeah. They've known each other for that long."

"Well, you're not wrong..." Shree said, failing to bite down her smile or keep out the tease from her voice.

"Shree!"

"I'm sorry, Alfred," she laughed, and Alfred begun to realise that Shree was a lot prettier than he originally thought she was. "They do like each other, but not the way you think. They're both very serious people with a very strange sense of humour. They're very alike, is what I'm trying to say. They don't like each other in that way. Besides, my brother's married."

"Married?" Alfred squeaked.

"Yeah. He has a daughter, too. And his wife fell in love with him and stayed that way for five years before she agreed to marry him."

"Oh. Ohh. That's nice."

Shree laughed. "So, no. No one is going to take your Nat from you. Were you jealous?"

"N-No!" Alfred stammered, and laughed a loud, fake laugh. "Why would _I_, the hero, be jealous?"

Shree shrugged, and patted his arm. "She doesn't get subtle hints. You don't look like someone who uses subtlety, but she's got a thick skin in areas like this. So, you know, be loud."

"What do you think I've got in mind?"

"I don't know, really. But I've got to go to the library now, so, see you." She walked past him, and he watched her go down the corridor and disappear.

Alfred looked down at his hands. His wrists, like the rest of his body, were still marked with the chains that figuratively bound him to his past.

Back then, he was alone. As alone as he could get, because he trusted no one, including himself. And now, he was lost - he had no idea what the next moment would bring, or what the consequences of his actions would be.

But, he decided, it was better to be lost than to be alone.

* * *

"Why are you still in bed?"

"Go away, priestess. I'm napping."

Nat frowned. It wasn't like Alfred to stay in bed well past morning - he was the kind who woke with the sunrise, and now, he was just lying on his stomach, his blanket covering him cozily, even though it was afternoon. "It's post lunch. You missed lunch."

"I had lunch, and now I'm napping. Didn't you see me in the mess?" he muttered, and turned around. "Aw. Did you miss me?"

She snarled at him. With a smile, he threw his arm over his eyes. "I may wake up in the evening. I'll come then."

Nat growled to herself, and grabbed his blanket with the intention of yanking it off him. But before she could get his blanket past his chest, he caught hold of her wrist and pulled her towards the bed. A few squeaks and a lot of struggle later, he had managed to pin her on top of him, his arms around her back and waist, and his legs over hers. She tried to get off him, but he was too damn strong - his arms were like iron vices, and his legs like steel traps. _Idyjot_.

"Let go of me, _mudak_," Nat growled at him. This close up, she could see the dark blue shards in his eyes.

"What did you want, priestess? I know it wasn't because you missed me," Alfred murmured slowly. If he just reached up, his nose would touch hers.

She had never noticed the freckles on his nose before. They were light, but they were very much there. She shook herself mentally. "I wanted to know if your head would break if I threw a marble slate at it."

"...my head would...break...you wanted to know how strong I am," Alfred said softly. "Well, now you know, don't you?"

Nat growled at him. "Let me go, _práklon!_"

"I would, but then I would have to come with you - no, no, no, before that," he whispered, "Before that, you would finish pulling my comfortable blankie off me. And I don't have a problem, but, but," he emphasized, "_you_ would have a problem. You see, I've got nothing on."

Nat frowned. _Nothing...on...nothing..._Oh. _Oh. _And that was when she suddenly grew aware of his body under hers, which were separated by her layers of clothes and his blanket .

Her hand was over his chest, and it wasn't separated by any blanket or any cloth. His hair was beneath her hand, springy and curly, and as her awareness grew, so did the strange heat in the lower part of her stomach.

His body was hard underneath her. His legs were pinned on top of hers, and those were like cords of steel. His arm around her, and the other one gripping her wrist were like chains.

Feeling slightly uncomfortable with something bony pressing into her stomach, she shifted slightly, and felt exactly how hard he could get. Blushing hotly, she looked at his face. He grinned lazily, but his eyes were burning with an intensity she had never seen in her life, on him, on anyone.

"Get a little more comfortable, priestess. Or do you mind if I do?" he drawled. When she remained mute, he asked, "Well, do you?"

"D-Do I wh-what?" she said, her mouth completely dry.

"Oh, you're so cute," he whispered, and she felt as if he was in pain. "I asked you if you mind, if I got comfortable."

"N-No, but" -

He shifted, and she felt him slide between her legs, hard and rigid. Heat stormed through her, and somehow raged harder when she watched him draw his eyes half-close and moan softly. Her lower regions thrummed incessantly, intensely, and it was as if her body was conspiring against her and knew what was exactly going on, when she didn't.

"A-Alfred" -

"Shh. Shh," Alfred said, raising his hand to put it on her lips. "If you say my name again, like that, we're going to have a problem."

"P-Problem" -

"Shh, Natalya. You must keep quiet," Alfred whispered and opened his eyes. He lifted his hand, and brushed her hair away from her face. Instead of tucking it behind her ear, he ran his fingers through her hair, curling it between his fingers. "You have such pretty hair, Natalya. I really like your hair," he whispered, and looked straight into her eyes. "I really like you, too."

Nat blushed hotly, and closed her eyes tightly. She opened her eyes, and looked at Alfred. "Alfred, let me go."

"Oh, I wish I could, priestess," he said, and closed his eyes. "I wish I could." He opened his eyes, and looked at her. "Am I scaring you?"

Nat didn't know what to do. She wanted to shake her head, but...she wasn't scared of him.

"What...if I...say yes?"

"Then I'll let you go right now."

"And...if I say no."

"Then I'll kiss you."

"...what."

"I'll kiss you, Natalya. I want to." He slowly brushed his thumb over her lips, parting them just slightly. "Right here."

She didn't know what was going on. She had no clue - she had never felt this way before. But..._o boža_...

She wanted to kiss him, too.

"Is it against your practice? To be...related to a man, in this way?" Alfred whispered.

The haze Alfred had trapped her, along with himself, clung onto her senses. She shook her head, but it was futile. "_Nie__..._I don't understand."

"If I were to kiss you, would you have committed a sin?"

"_Nie, nie__. _You...I've never done this before."

"It's not hard, Natalya," Alfred chuckled softly. "It's the easiest thing in the world."

"...show me."

Alfred grinned an easy grin, his eyes half closed. He cupped her face and drew her down, to show her exactly how easy it was.

* * *

"He has returned."

Their combined roars was enough to throw the roof right off the walls. Azor rose from his seat, and moved forward, his happiness and excitement clear on his terrifying face.

But the happiness on his face fell inch by inch, as did the magnitude of the roar, as he watched his brother walk towards him. By the time he reached his brother, there were none of the previous emotions on his face, and the hall was filled with pin drop silence.

Azor caught his brother as he fell, his eyes unable to move away from the peculiar hole in his chest. It wasn't a bodily wound - it was a hole which went right through his body. He was able to see the floor on the other side, but at the same time, it resembled a pitch black abyss. It looked fragmented at the edges, like a hole in parchment. But its very presence terrified Azor.

"What is this?" he whispered.

"He's trapped, _Kehenchin_," Durzen, his comrade, murmured softly. "A part of him is still in the place he was summoned to."

"Will he...will he d-d-d" -

"He won't, _Kehenchin_," Durzen said, using the term for leader. "But we must act fast."

Durzen turned to the rest of the crowd. "I must know where he was summoned to, as well as to whom he was summoned to. Get the _gehegin_ ready, and the warriors as well. Wherever we have to go, we shall."

"He had got to Terrida," one demon spoke up. "And his summoner was...Alfred Jones."

Durzen, true to his role, took his position as his leader's right arm, and took charge. "Inform the _gehegin _to get ready. I want to know everything about this Alfred Jones. Get the warriors. We are going to Terrida."

Durzen kneeled next to Azor, and told him, "We shall go to Terrida, and hunt this Alfred Jones down."

"I'm coming, too" -

"No, _Kehenchin_. We shall go first. You shall take care of your brother."

"You will go."

"Yes, _Kehenchin_."

"Durzen. I have one order."

Durzen had never heard Azor call him by his name. "Yes, _Kehenchin_."

"Destroy Alfred Jones."

* * *

**A.T.: And another chapter! **

**A couple of things first. **

**Firstly, my mum isn't willing to give me a datacard, so I won't be uploading chapters next week when I go to Manipal, because...no internet. Once I go back to college from the 8th (gulp) I'll upload.**

**I don't not want to go to college, but I'm still yet to get used to hostel and college life. **

**Speaking of which, 8th onwards I'll be in the second semester. I really want to upload twice a week, or at the least once a week, in the upcoming future. I want to do it particularly on a set day each week, and try to keep uploading as consistently as possible. I can only decide on the day once I check out my timetable, which I'll only be getting on 8th, so, until then, I can't tell you which day(s) I'll be uploading a new chapter. But I'm aiming for two days in a week, and I'll let you know beforehand when exams are coming around and whether I'll upload then or not. All I can say now is that I really want to be consistent in putting out new chapters on a weekly basis, and I will try to do that the best I can. I don't get wifi all throughout my hostel, except in this one tiny room, which is why I can't make it to more than two times a week. And I haven't really done all my best in the first sem - that isn't to say I've done badly; I've maintained an average of 23/30 overall in the four courses whose marks I do know - but I can do better, so I'm going to give my studies a preference, too.**

**The thing was, I got involved in all these extracurriculars during first sem, and it doesn't seemed to have gelled really well with any of my course teachers. I'll have to attend every class of every one of the seven courses I have this sem, so...yeah.**

**That's about it, I think.**

**I just recently read 'The Woman in White' by Wilkie Collins, and lemme tell you - It. Is. Awesome. Anyone who loves classics or who loves mystery or suspense or just a goddamn good book, go check it out. It will not be a waste of your time.**

**And yesterday, I finished watching Cowboy Bebop. I'm still heartbroken about the ending T.T**

**T.T**

**Still heartbroken.**

**Well, that's a very long A.T. I'll leave it at this, then.**

**I hope you liked it very much.**

**Love,**

**R. K. Iris.**


	13. The Bounty Hunt Begins

**A.T.: A big shout out to Pinkdoughnuts and Skye for reviewing the previous chapter! Thank you so much for reviewing! Reviews make me really, really happy!**

**Another thing I'd like to let you know before you start reading. Natalya isn't naturally very fluent in English. During her time in the Academy, when she was with Shree and Raj, they taught each other their native languages, and a combination of both turned into a common language for them. So whenever it's just two out of the three of them, or all three of them alone, they talk in that common language. In my head, it's a combination of Belarusian, Russian (pretty close) and Hindi. So...I can't exactly get to writing down their sentences in their language, because the translation segment would begin to resemble a chapter instead. I hope you understand, so, from now on, if any of the three are talking to each other when other people aren't in the vicinity, they're talking in their common language. You can take that for granted.**

**I don't own Hetalia. Glad we got that out of the way.**

* * *

Duruni - the term used to address Om

Weiser mann - Ger - Wise man

Idyjot - Bel - Idiot

Práklon - Bel - Dammit, Goddamit

Mudak - Bel - Asshole

Bliadz - Bel - Bitch, Whore (choose your context)

Diajin - Holy staff

* * *

**Chapter 13**

"Goodbye, _Duruni_."

Om smiled at Natalya. "Goodbye is...a rather strong term, Natalya. We shall meet again, in the future, and in happier times."

Nat smiled back at him. "I believe you, _Duruni_." She bowed, touched his feet, and moved away to allow Om to say goodbye to the rest of them. She walked to Raj, who was talking to Shree about something. As soon as they sighted her, they moved away to make space for her.

"See you, Raj," Nat said in their common language. "I'll be taking Shree with me for a while."

"Don't get into too much trouble, like you did before," Raj said, and scratched the back of his head thoughtfully. "Although, that was partly because I was there to pull you two out of it."

Nat grinned in the memories of their shenanigans, and Shree laughed. "Ah, don't worry about that. We're mature adults now."

Nat snorted. "I wish. But it's a good thing you're not coming along. Your hair would grow more gray than it had back then. And I wouldn't want your wife coming behind my life asking me why I turned her husband into an old man, now, would I?" Nat teased.

Om watched his siblings and Natalya laugh about something, and turned to the rest of the group, who he had just finished bidding goodbye to. "I hope you have as safe a journey as possible," Om said. "Mr Beilschmidt, I hope those books serve you well."

Gilbert heaved the heavy volumes in his arms a little higher. "I'll make good use of them, _weiser mann_. I am awesome, but I have a lot to learn."

Om chuckled. "So do we all. Miss Hedervary...please look after everyone."

Elizabeta bowed to Om, and smiled in response. "Please take care of yourself, _Duruni_."

"I will, I will. Ah, boys," he said, seeing Alfred and Matt approach them. "I was wondering where you two were."

"We were loading the car," Matt said, while Alfred just raised an eyebrow at Om. "Wondering? Since when have you wondered, old man? You know everything."

"It is the foolish who declare they know everything, Alfred," Om said. "And I'm not all that old - why, I'm just five years elder to my younger siblings standing there."

Alfred opened his mouth in shock. "Woah. Really?" he said, astonished. He rubbed the back of his head. "I dunno...must be because you've shaved your head."

"Natalya, do I seem like an old man to you?" Om asked as Nat and his siblings approached them.

Nat shook her head. "You're not even married yet."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Raj said. "Married people are old?"

"Or old people are married?" Shree added. "Either way, you're both," she said cheekily, and went and hid on the other side of Nat before Raj could respond.

"Both of you are crazy," Raj muttered after glaring at his sister and his silently laughing best friend, and turned to Alfred and Matt. "Take care with these two. They might seem sober apart, but they get into a lot of trouble when they're together."

Nat just rolled her eyes, and Shree went forward and touched Om's feet. "I'll be back soon, _Duruni_."

"Be safe, Shree," Om said, his smile fading away as he looked at his younger sister.

"I have Nat, so...no problem," Shree said, grinning to Nat, who grinned back. "We won't die, don't worry. Let's go." Nat turned around, and began walking to the car.

They all piled in - Gilbert and Eliza were already there, reading some books. Nat got in, and waited for the other three to figure out how they'd sit around.

Finally, the shotgun seat door opened, and Alfred got in, followed by Shree. Matt opened the door behind, and sat down.

"Where to?" Nat asked.

"The southern coast. Can you drive?" Shree asked.

"I would not be sitting behind the wheel if I couldn't. Lead me there."

Shree grinned, reminded of an inside joke from the past. "With pleasure, Nattie. With pleasure."

With a roar, the engine came to life, and they drove away.

* * *

"Hey, priestess. Where do you want all this stuff?" Alfred asked.

"Keep it there," Nat said, pointing to where Shree was drawing inscriptions on the ground. It felt good to be on the road again - as much as she cared for Om and Raj, and enjoyed their company, she preferred to be on her own. Although...this wasn't actually 'on her own', as she observed all those around her.

They'd reached the coast after an hour and half, and Gilbert, Eliza and Matt had taken it on themselves to go play in the water. Shree was making arrangements to install the idols, as per Om's directions. Alfred wanted to go play in the water, too, but Nat roped him in to carry some of the boxes that had all the things Nat required for rituals.

"Anything else, priestess?" Alfred asked, walking from Shree to her.

Nat inspected the boxes from where she was, and nodded. "That's about it."

"Well, I'm off to the water, then," Alfred said, ruffling the back of his head, looking at where Matt, Eliza and Gilbert were at.

Matt somehow had gotten his hands on a pair of swimming trunks, as had Gilbert, and Eliza had a cute looking one piece on herself. They were playing like kids - splashing water on each other, pulling each other down into the water. Gilbert,as they watched, picked Eliza up, heaved her on his shoulder, and walked deeper into the water, ignoring all of her protests. He then threw Eliza into the water, but she grabbed his arms before she fell, dragging him in with her. Matt laughed until tears came to his eyes, and walked towards where they'd fallen, only to have them grab his feet from underwater and pull him down as well.

Alfred shook his head. "Kids."

Nat snorted, but she couldn't help but smile. "You're one to talk."

"Hey, I never said I wasn't a kid myself," Alfred said. "Been a long while since I've seen the beach."

Nat heard the wistfulness in his tone, and turned from the water to him. He looked so..._sad_. She'd never seen him look sad - happy sometimes, annoyingly so, and sometimes angry, but...never sad. And for some reason, something inside her cringed and popped at the same time, in the most unusual way, and she found it...strange, because she'd never felt that way.

Alfred continued to stare into the sea, looking beyond the noisy trio and at the horizon, and suddenly turned to her, the full range of his emotions revealed in his eyes. The emotions grew subdued, and he just smiled at her. Strangely shaken, she looked away towards the sea.

"How did they get the swimming clothes?" Nat asked out loud.

"That would be my work," Shree said, and they turned to look at her. "I saw the route Om had planned out for us, and figured since we'd be at the beach at some point or another, figured that it'd be best for all of us to have swimming suits. There's one for you two, too - it's there along with Matt's clothes. I asked him to lay it out in the back seats, so you guys can change in the car and go into the water."

"Does mine have 'I'm the hero!' written on it?" Alfred asked.

Shree laughed. "No, Alfred, it doesn't. But I'm sure you could find one like that in any town we might go next to."

"Well, yeah, that's true - thanks anyways, Shree. You're a doll," Alfred said, and turned to Nat. "So, priestess, you're going to join us, right?"

"I have work, Jones," Nat said, scowling at him.

"We won't take long, Alfred," Shree said, and Nat's scowl grew darker as she aimed it at Shree.

"Alright! See you both, then," Alfred said, and turned to Nat. "Make sure to wear your swimming suit, priestess. I'm sure you'll look gorgeous in it," he drawled, and winked at her before sauntering off to the car.

...what was that word? The one Shree had used once? Ah, yes. Horny. He had three moods - annoyingly happy, occasionally angry, and horny. Very horny.

Nat shook her head, and walked back to Shree, who had most of the arrangements done. Nat began taking things out of the boxes and arranging for the ritual that was to follow, and pointedly ignored Shree's curious gaze.

The intensity of her gaze grew to a point where Nat could no longer ignore it. "What?" she snapped.

"What's going on?" Shree singsonged.

"Where?"

"Oh, you know where. Don't act innocent."

"Spell it out," Nat said between gritted teeth.

"What's with Alfred and you?"

Nat just kept quiet, not meeting Shree's gaze on purpose.

"How far did he go? Did he" -

"Shree, you _idyjot_!" Nat whispered vehemently, and looked up. As soon as Shree's gaze connected with hers, she realised what a big, stupid mistake that was.

"Oho. _Oho_. I see," Shree said, smirking.

"You see nothing."

"I'm sure."

_Práklon_, but Shree was getting on her nerves. The two of them worked in silence, Nat gritting her teeth to keep herself from grumbling, Shree smirking away, trying not to laugh.

"What did he do?"

"Shree!"

-o-

Alfred pulled his swimming trunks on, and looked at himself with a critical eye. He had told Shree somewhat about his condition, and as much as he didn't want to hide the marks on his body, he knew the sight of his bare skin was...jarring, to say the least. He was used to it - hell, if he could get used to the things which caused these marks, he was more than used to the marks themselves. But he didn't know how the others would take it...two people in particular.

He fingered the seam of his vest uneasily. His vest hid the worst marks, possibly, on his body. And he never parted with it, unless it was too hot to actually wear it. If he wore it and went into the water, he would have to remove it at some point when he had to change, and...well, shit on slushy sand. Either way, he would have to remove it - or he could just not go into the water. But that wasn't going to happen.

He heard footsteps, and sighed. Fuck it. He was acting like a woman. He decided to leave it on, and take it off if he was comfortable with it. He jumped out of the vehicle, ready with his latest quip for his favourite priestess. "Aww, decided to go into the water" -

A hand gripped his face, and before he could register the crushing strength behind the grip, he was zooming through the air, the wind cutting into his skin, and by the time he opened his eyes, he had hit a ton of bricks, and was surrounded by water on all four sides.

'_The fuck?_'

_Watch out, human!_

The same crushing grip caught hold of the top of his head, and moved him through the water at the same speed as he'd been moving in through the air. Speaking of which -

_'I'm choking!_' Alfred consciously thought as he felt his lungs squeezing the last dredges of air left in him, and began demanding more.

_Grab that hand._

_'What?'_

_The hand on your head - grab it!_

Alfred moved both his arms through the water, and grabbed the hand gripping into his skull. And suddenly, the demon took over.

-o-

The amulet on Nat's arm tightened just as the screams from the trio reached her ear. Nat looked up, and saw them pointing at an object speeding away and saying...saying...

They were saying Alfred.

"Shree" -

"I'll install the idol. Go!"

Nat stumbled to her feet and ran towards the car, where she'd seen Alfred last. She threw the door open, and her heart stopped.

He wasn't there.

With a growl, she tore her shirt off her, revealing the swimsuit she wore underneath. Throwing her shirt on the seat, she clambered half in and pressed a button on the inner roof of the car.

A panel lowered itself, and turned towards her, revealing weapons all placed and protected in their casings. Nat pulled out her _keshi_ from the holsters around her hips - in water, they would be useless - and pulled off an underwater assault rifle from the panel, one of the many weapons she'd modified to accommodate the holy bullets she'd hand crafted.

This would do just fine.

Nat unbelted the _keshi_ holster from around her hip and looped a belt with a carriage pouch at the back, specifically made for the rifle, all in a fluid motion. She pushed the button for the panel to go back in place, and undid her pants, revealing the rest of her swimsuit, which covered her till her thighs. She ran towards the water, and stopped when the amulet tightened even further. But the pain of the near loss of blood flow into her arm was ignored at the sight in front of her.

Alfred was running on water.

And there was someone chasing him.

At the sight of that someone, Nat's hand automatically went to the _keshi_ strapped to her thigh, and she drew it out. With a steady arm, she took aim, chanted the incantations, and fired.

An unholy scream tore at the skies, and Nat took another shot. Another scream followed the first one, and Nat shot the third time. The scream turned into a roar, but Nat didn't care - by then, Alfred was next to her.

Or, to be politically correct, it was the demon.

"What the hell is going on?" Nat growled.

"_Are you talking to me, priestess?_"

"Who else would I be talking to, _mudak_?" Nat snapped angrily.

"_Your friend thought it was you, and left the metal box to greet you. He was thrown with a great force. He moved through the air, and hit the water. Before he could comprehend, the assailant grabbed his head and dragged him through the water._"

"That's when you stepped in," Nat said.

"_Yes._"

"Do you know who that is?" Nat asked. But she didn't need him to answer - by then, she could clearly see the assailant the demon spoke about.

A woman walked before them, with large eyes, a small nose, and a pert mouth. She had a small, heart shaped face, with long, blond hair tied up in a loose braid falling over one shoulder. She was a little shorter than Nat's height, and she wore similar clothes to what Shree wore - a long shift and loose slacks - but they were in pastel colours, with floral designs on them.

She was gorgeous to look at. She was also a demon.

Nat instantly picked out the signs - inhumanely red irises, arms longer than a normal human's, and the edges...she seemed to blend right in with her surroundings at one point, and be starkly different from it at the next. It was like a picture drawn with no borders on a canvas. She wasn't transparent, but she seemed like a hallucination, a vision.

And the sight of a demon in front of her hurt her eyes, both literally and figuratively.

"What do you want, demon?" Nat called out, her _keshi_ trained on the seemingly female demon.

The demon turned to her. "_Are they your bullets? Are you a priestess?_"

"Yes, and yes. I don't care who you are. Tell me what you want," Nat called out. She could clearly see the points where her bullets had hit - and all three had hit. But the demon wasn't bleeding in those points - instead, she had been burnt.

Just as she should be.

"_I want the one they call Alfred Jones._"

"Yeah? Well, I don't know what you are talking" -

"Priestess! Alfred!" Matt called out as the three of them came on shore.

Nat cringed and closed her eyes. "_Práklon_, Matt," she whispered through her teeth, and opened her eyes. The demon before her was grinning at her, and Nat's irritation scale hit the roof.

"_You were saying, priestess?_"

This _bliadz_ just got more annoying than ever. "You'll have to get through me before you get him," Nat growled.

The demon's grin turned from condescending to a maniac given the object of her psychotic desires. "_With pleasure._"

The demon moved almost immediately, even before the words had time to reach Nat's ears. Her eyes couldn't pick out the demon's movements, but she knew better than to be within the demon's reach. She jumped back, and took aim at a seemingly random direction, but the shot she fired got its target.

"_You bitch!_" the demon screamed, and her bubbling fury made her slow enough to be visible to Nat. In a test of physical strength Nat wouldn't get around, especially with her doubts about her previously injured arm, but Nat had much more than physical strength by her side.

Natalya had God on her side.

Chanting mantras the entire time under her breath, Nat ran backwards and slid sidewards just before the demon could reach her. Nat could not let the demon so much as touch her - then it was game over, as Alfred liked to put it. She had to use incantations, bullets and her knives to slow the demon down, keep as much distance as possible between the two of them.

She shot, and dodged the pouncing demon, just to get some distance between them. As Nat moved, a loose plan formulated in her head.

_"Why do you keep running away? Are you scared, you bitch?"_

_'Oh, fuck you_, bliadz.'

Nat watched the demon pounce on her once more, and slid - but this time, she slid downwards instead of sidewards. As the demon watched in shock, Nat slid on the sand, and threw five knives at the demon's body successively, with perfect timing, within seconds of each other.

The demon flew over her, and Nat jumped onto her feet, moving backwards. The demon got up from her crouched position, and turned around to face Nat with the same condescending grin. "_Nicely done, priestess, but poor choice, I must say. I actually thought you would use that monster weapon of yours, but, instead, all I get are these toothpicks in my body which hurt as much as a mosquito bite." Nat watched as her knives got swallowed into the demon's body, disappearing like twigs in quicksand. "Now, I'll rip your face into two...or maybe just your limbs. Then you can watch me rip that Alfred you seem to want to protect so badly, and"_ -

The clink of metal hitting metal stopped the demon midsentence, and the distinct sound of temple brass made her features freeze in fear. She felt something press into her back, and slowly, fearfully, looked over her shoulder.

"I'm sorry," Shree said, using a brand of acidic sweetness in her voice, "_but I am the only one_ who gets to _call that woman a bitch._"

"Hey!" Nat exclaimed in protest, but Shree ignored her.

"What you just called _toothpicks_, my dear demon," Shree continued in the same tone of voice, "are actually stakes with inscriptions along the entire length of the blade and handle. And, that _woman_ you shouldn't be calling bitch managed to land them at the exact centres of your Chi Chakras all along your body. So, should my _daijin_ \- that's my holy staff, by the way - touch your back again, you're going to implode into a million pieces, and cease to exist on any plane, in any Realm. So, I suggest you start talking, or I'll watch you _explode_ in front of me like a bloody firework. And no, I don't get disgusted by the idea of blood on my body -_ I relish it_."

Nat watch the demon before her shake in fear, and shook her head. Put Shree in a battlefield, and she transformed from a hyper, sweet girl to a predator who enjoyed killing in the name of peace and prosperity and whatever the hell got her to the battlefield in the first place.

Where Nat's strength lied in her physical capabilities, Shree's lied in her spiritual. Shree's spiritual power was second only to some of the more experienced House Heads, third only to Raj's, and fourth only to Om's.

_"K-kill Alfred Jones. Th-that's what t-they s-s-said_."

"Is that so?" Shree asked with friendliness so fake that it made Nat's teeth ache. "Did they say why?"

_"I...I...I..."_

"You can't tell? Can you tell me where are you from?"

"Roomie" -

"Where are you from? Or can you not tell me that, either?"

Nat turned slightly to her side as Alfred joined her. "_The priestess is..._"

"Scary?" Nat asked. Seemed like the demon was still taking over.

_"...something like that._"

Nat smiled slightly, and turned back to Shree. "Roomie, just let her go."

"Why?" Shree said, looking at Nat.

"Just..." Nat said, shaking her hand in front of her face.

"That doesn't cut it," Shree said. "I don't think your life would have been spared if it was the other way around, and you know it."

Nat just shook her head absently, and looked at the demon. "Are others coming, too? Like you?"

"_Y-Yes...there's a bounty"_ \- and the demon pressed her lips tightly together, as if having said something she shouldn't have.

"A bounty..." Nat murmured thoughtfully.

"Exactly why we shouldn't let her go," Shree concluded cheerfully. "I'll just finish her off" -

"Or she could go scare the other demons about someone like you and that could change their plans about coming," Nat told Shree. Nat sighed, and turned around to leave. "Do what you want. What a waste of bullets."

"Well, now you've killed the mood, roomie," Shree complained. "Hey, Curly, what should I do?"

"M-Me?" Matt said, pointing at himself, slightly shocked at his new and sudden nickname.

"Yeah, you. What should I do - let the demon go like my roomie says or just finish it off?"

"I-I think you should let the demon go," Matt said hesitantly.

"Let her go," Nat repeated herself, and suddenly stopped. She turned around, and looked the demon dead in the eyes. "But don't do anything stupid."

The demon felt a chill up its spine. First the priestess with the _daijin_, and now the priestess with the holy bullets. They could just defeat their foes without drawing their weapon - the priestess with the _daijin_ just had to start talking, and the priestess with the holy bullets just had to give a look. As soon as the demon felt the pressure from its back ease, it summoned up whatever little energy it had left, and vanished from their Realm.

-o-

"Really? The only person who can call me bitch is you?" Nat deadpanned.

"Hey, don't blame me if I'm possessive," Shree said.

Nat snorted as she removed the pouch and the underwater assault rifle. "This was completely useless right now. Could have just stuck with my _keshi_."

"How in the world did you think you'd be able to follow both the demons so deep into the water? You didn't even wear your water skates," Shree reminded. Nat shrugged, to which she said, "Oh, so you would have gone halfway, remembered you have water skates, and gone back to take it?"

Nat shrugged again as she replaced the rifle in the panel. "Probably."

"You're insufferable."

"And you're using big words again," Nat said, and turned around. "Was the idol installed?"

"Yeah. Otherwise, I wouldn't have joined you when I did," Shree said. "You're going into the water now?"

"I'm already in my swimsuit. Might as well make the most of - hey, Matt," Nat cut off on seeing Mathew towering behind Shree, followed by Gilbert and Eliza.

"Priestess...can we ask you for a favour?" Mathew asked.

"You can call her Natalya or Nat, you know," Shree said, turning around and leaning against the car. They all turned to look at her. "I'm serious. You've known her every single day for nearly two months now. If you don't start calling her Natalya or Nat or Alya - people rarely use that - or Nattie - that's her favourite," Shree teased, and grinned at Nat's visible irritation. "Well, if you don't call her that now, when will you?"

"Do...you mind?" Matt asked Nat.

Before Nat could get in a word, Shree thumped him on the shoulder cheerfully. "Of course! As her roomie, I give you full authority. Well, all of you, actually."

"They had something to say, Shree," Nat muttered. "Call me whatever you want. Except Nattie."

"Except Nattie," Shree agreed. "Only I get to call her that."

"You forgot 'bitch'," Nat supplied sarcastically.

"And 'bitch'," Shree answered cheerfully.

"Getting back to the topic," Nat said pointedly at Shree, and turned to Matt. "What is it, Matt?"

"Well...the three of us wanted you to teach us some things. Both of you."

"Oh?" Shree asked, straightening and moving away from the car. "What's up?"

"Could you...please teach us some incantations? Just the basic ones," Eliza quickly added. "Also, something about self defense, too."

"It's like this," Matt said upon seeing both of their faces, "whenever something threatens any of us, the three of us are unable to...well...do anything. We just stand there, or worse, get in someone's way. And that demon said that there's a bounty, so other demons are bound to come. So..."

"The awesome me cannot stay away from any more battles!" Gilbert yelled loudly, and he was immediately followed by a loud thunk! of metal against skull. The other three winced.

"Hmm...I can understand your concern," Shree said, and turned to Nat. The two of them talked to each other in the language common to only the two of them, and turned back to the three of them. "We will," Shree said cheerfully.

"Really?" Matt said, excitement visible on all their faces.

"But on certain conditions," Nat added somberly, and their excitement faded in degrees. "First of all, I am not too sure of letting any of you wield a gun with holy bullets." Nat began to explain: "For one, it has a stronger recoil that most normal guns, and the recoil is three to five times stronger. If you're inexperienced and you're using a rifle with holy bullets, then it's sure that your shoulder will dislocate, or, even worse, you may fracture whichever part you're using to support the weapon. Of the three of you, I know Matt has great physical strength, so I don't feel great concern in his using any of the weapons I use, after suitable training."

"Well, you clearly have amnesia, Nat," Shree chided. "Didn't you see the way Eliza - I can call you that, right? Awesome - Eliza wielded that pan? That's monster strength right there. Carve the correct mantras on the surface of the pan, give it a new handle, attach a chain to it - and voila! You have a long distance and short distance combat weapon!"

Nat stared at Shree for a long, long time, then finally gave up and sighed. "I don't know how that brain of yours works."

"And, Gilbert, you're a doctor, right?" Shree said, turning to Gilbert. "You have the knowledge, but you just need to know how to put it to use. You've heard about acupressure and acupuncture, right?"

"I see what you mean," Gilbert said, unusually thoughtful.

"Well, I'm not an acupuncture master, but I do know the basics," Shree said. "Nat knows a couple of things, too."

"I am not so clear on that," Nat said. "It's been a very long time since Wang taught us any of the movements."

"I remember a couple. I'm sure you'll remember as soon as we start," Shree said, and looked at them. "I guess when we're moving around, we could teach you some basic mantras for warding off spirits and some other things. It'll be very basic, mind you, because the mantras or incantations that we use are very high level ones. If you use them, they will just be a couple of words put together. Their true strength comes from the spiritual energy and power of the user, and not of the words itself as such," Shree explained. "Don't worry, we'll teach you those mantras that are effective in any situation. If nothing else, it'll give you time to move away from your enemy."

"I'm sure that will be more than enough. Thank you, thank you very much," Matt said, and the other two thanked them as well.

"Hey, don't mention it!" Shree said, and her face suddenly grew serious. "But one thing."

"What is it? Eliza said as the three of them grew serious.

Shree suddenly burst into sheepish laughter. "The thing is, I really, really want to play in the water right now. Could we start this a bit later, if you don't mind?"

"Well, there are four more hours before the boat we want comes along," Nat informed.

"Yeah, so...please?" Shree said, dragging out the 'please' for as long as she could.

The three of them grinned. "Of course," Matt said.

"Awesome!" Shree said, and stripped right there until she had nothing on but her one piece swimsuit. "Come on, Nat! Last one to the water is a baby!" Shree yelled behind her as she ran towards the beach.

"Práklon, Shree! You cheater!" Nat yelled out as she dashed behind Shree.

The three of them chuckled. "Come on, Eliza, Matt! Let's go, too!" Gilbert said, and grabbed Eliza's hand, dragging her to the water.

"I'll come in a minute!" Matt called out behind them, and leaned against the doorframe of the car. He waited until the four of them were in the water before he spoke.

"Are you there, Alfred?"

He heard a chuckle from the other end of the car. Matt turned around, and saw Alfred climb into the car - the side doors on either side of the mini SUV were open, and Matt had sensed Alfred's presence from somewhere in between the conversation.

"Hey, broski," Alfred said, smiling tiredly. Matt climbed in as well, and sat down. He watched Alfred press his head against the back of the shotgun seat, leaning forward.

"Tired?"

"Very." Alfred was quiet for some time. "What were you talking to the priestesses about?"

"On how to be useful," Matt chuckled, and proceeded to sit just the way Alfred was. "You know, I feel so utterly useless when things like this happen."

"Don't say that."

"It's true, Al. Every time" -

"Mattie, don't say that. You're my brother. You're never useless," Alfred interrupted Matt, and it stayed quiet between them for a while. Alfred then chuckled. "If there's someone who's useless, it's me."

"What do you mean?"

Alfred sighed brokenly. "Think about it. Every time I'm in some kind of danger, either the demon kicks in or I get my ass saved by the priestess - and now there are two of them. I can't do shit, and I always get my ass saved by someone. And when it's all over, I remember stuff, but it might as well be me sitting on the sidelines and watching all the stuff happen to me, and not being able to do a thing about it. That..." Alfred sighed. "I don't like that at all, Mattie."

Matt pursed his lips, but kept quiet. He'd never thought of it from Alfred's point of view before, mostly because he...Alfred looked like he was in motion, or he was doing something, but Matt never bothered to see whether it was truly Alfred doing all that, or whether it was someone else.

"And according to Shree, I can't touch any of the stuff with the holy writings. It'll burn my body, just the way it burnt that demon's body. And I...I don't...I can't be the hero of my own life, Matt."

_Could it get any worse?_

Alfred didn't say it, but Matt heard it loud and clear. He...he didn't know what he'd do if he'd been in Alfred's shoes.

"Hey, Alfred?"

"Yeah, Mattie."

"I don't think anyone could live your life the way you have, and come out of it like this. I can't think of anyone who could face the things you've faced and still be able to smile at the end of the day. If you could survive your own life, Al, then kicking a demon or two's ass isn't really that big a deal for you, you know."

Alfred's eyes widened as Matt's words sunk in. And slowly, he smiled. He began to chuckle, then to laugh, moving away from the front seat and falling into the backrest of his own seat, laughing until there were tears in his eyes.

"Oh, Mattie. I'm glad I have you," Alfred said, grinning at him. "No one can cheer me up the way you do."

Matt grinned at Alfred, but something caught his eye. He leaned forward, and brushed his hand against a mark on the side of Alfred's neck. "Al, what's this?"

The happiness in Alfred's eyes gave way to pain, but the smile on his face remained. "Oh, that? That's the mark. From the chains."

Matt's eyes widened as he remembered how he'd found his brother. Had so much time passed? At one hand, it felt like he'd met his brother just yesterday, and now...Matt's fingers traced the scar down the side of Alfred's neck, over his chest, and stopped at the hem of his vest. "Are they all over your body?"

Alfred nodded.

"Is that why you always wear this vest?"

The nod came slower, but it did come. "Not exactly. I don't mind the marks. I just...I don't know how others will react to it. How...how you will...react..."

"Hmm," Matt hummed, and sat back in his seat. "You don't need to hide anything from me, Al."

"It's not pretty."

Matt shrugged. "So?"

Alfred just sighed. "I'll just show you." He pulled up his vest, and tossed it over the headrest of the front seat.

Matt just kept quiet, his eyes slowly moving over the scars, the criss-cross of white over Alfred's body. Alfred didn't know what to say, and he didn't know what Matt was thinking, either - he'd put on his thinking face, and Matt's thinking face was the most inscrutable thing Alfred had seen.

"You know what this reminds me of?" Matt said at length.

"What?"

"The warriors mum used to talk about," Matt said, and smiled.

Alfred felt a sudden weight lifted of his shoulders, a weight so heavy that he realised he'd forgotten to breathe. "Yeah," he said, and smiled.

"Speaking of mum," Matt said, "Priestess Shree actually reminds me of mum. What do you say?"

Something seemed to click in Alfred's head. "Ohh. So that's whom she reminds me of," Alfred said as if he'd just realised.

"Yeah," Matt said, smiling. "She's cheerful and helpful and really knowledgeable. She can suddenly be scary, too, at times."

"I know what you're talking about," Alfred agreed, and something suddenly occurred to him. "Hey, Mattie."

"Yeah, Al."

"She's really cute, isn't she?"

"Yeah," Matt sighed happily. Suddenly he caught himself and looked up, but by the time he could open his mouth, it was too late. Alfred already had that look in his eyes.

"Uh huh. A real cutie, that's Shree," Alfred teased.

"Oh, shut up," Matt said, and plonked his head against the backrest of the front seat, giving up. Alfred would never let this go.

"And man, oh man, what with that swimsuit, she's that much" -

"You know what?" Matt said, opening the door, "I'm going to ignore you, and I'm going for a swim."

"You can't ignore me if I'm coming along with you!" Alfred said, jumping out right behind Matt.

"You guys! How long are you going to take?" Shree called out to them, and turned to splash water at Nat.

"Last one to the water's a dirty dung beetle!" Alfred called out and sprinted to the waterline.

"Wha- hey! You cheater!" Matt yelled behind him, and sprinted right behind him.

"I thought you were ignoring me!" Alfred yelled as Matt caught up.

"Well, screw you, Al," Matt retorted, and overtook Al.

"Oh no you don't!" Al cried out, and dived towards Matt, grabbing him around the waist.

And, with a loud splash, they both fell into the water.

* * *

**A.T.: And that ended with a little bro-to-bro talk. I'm sorry if it's a bit emotional and not all that manly (or that's what I thought), but the thing is, Alfred and Matt both independently feel that they've already lost a lot of time with each other, and whatever time they're getting now is not enough for them to waste on beating around the bush. And they feel they need to tell each other exactly how they feel, and not hold things back. **

**Well, I did say last time I wouldn't upload a chapter this week because I'd be off to Manipal, but the thing is I didn't go. You could say I chickened out at the last minute. The thing was, it didn't feel right - for those of you who don't know, my grandma (maternal) lives there, and she is also my music teacher, so I go to Manipal to learn music. Well, I would have readily gone any other time, but I really wanted to stay at home. After being in the hostel, you really begin to value home and every minute you spend there like nothing else...so I decided to stay at home. And hence, the chapter.**

**I must say, this chapter came out a hell lot better than I expected. It's...it's pretty damn awesome.**

**Well, I hope you guys enjoyed it. I sure as hell had a lot of fun writing this.**

**All my love,**

**R. K. Iris.**


	14. Memories

**A.T: Yessss...got one chapter uploaded this week.**

**THANK YOU SO MUCH, Pinkdoughnuts, FOR THE REVIEW! Yeah, I love Alfred and Matt's little talks, as I like to call them, and I love AmeBel, although it doesn't feel like AmeBel as much as it does as AlNat. I guess you'll like this chapter, too ;)**

**People, do leave reviews. It makes me happy :)**

**Don't own Hetalia. For some reason, I feel the need to say this in every chapter.**

**Coming this March will be two years since Adei passed away. I'm glad I've taken this up again. I can't promise anything when I have exams, but until then, for Adei, for everyone reading this and enjoying this, and for the story itself, I'll do this to the very end. Unless something happens to me. But let's hope that something does not. **

**Enjoy!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 14**

"Okay, that's enough target practice. You're going to finish all my bullets," Natalya said, taking her gun from Mathew. "But remember, a gun with holy bullets" -

"Has a greater recoil. I know, priestess. I can handle it," Matt said, smiling.

"Aw, Nat's concerned," Shree teased, looking up from her place next to Elizabeta and Gilbert.

"How about you carve those inscriptions on that pan before I get to carving inscriptions on your ass?" Nat growled.

"Aw, Nat's being cute," Shree repeated in the same tone. "You love my ass the way it is. You didn't let me get a tattoo on it in third year."

"That's because you were drunk," Nat reminded her. "I don't have any particular attachment to your rear end - I wouldn't have heard the end of it if you had gone ahead and gotten that tattoo."

"You guys drink?" Matt asked, surprised.

"Occasionally," Nat said. "We have a particular time allotted for alcohol - we had, as students. Now we don't touch the stuff, unless it's for medical purposes. That way, the warrior Houses are much more lenient on alcohol protocol that the academic Houses."

"Especially the House of Flame," Shree added, and Nat grinned. "We used to joke," Shree continued, grinning as well, "that they're called the House of Flame because of the brand of vodka they like to use, which leaves a trail of fire in your system after you have a gulp of the stuff."

"Ah, good times, good times," Nat said, grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"Actually, speaking of leniency, the warrior Houses are more lenient about meat protocol than the academic Houses, if I'm not wrong," Shree said, and Nat nodded in agreement.

"They expect the warrior Houses to be strong enough to fight, so the relaxation is on most protocols. But, then again, the first thing they do when you join the House," Nat said, "is make you lose all sensation in your tastebuds. You eat for the nourishment of the body, not for the enjoyment of the senses. So I'm not complaining if I get my protein from an animal or a plant."

"That makes sense," Eliza mused.

Nat sat down in front of them, and Shree patted the spot next to her in a way of asking Matt to sit down as well. "Where's Alfred?" Shree whispered to Matt.

"He's still asleep," Matt whispered back, and Shree nodded. "Well, he was meditating the whole night through, so I'm not surprised," she said.

"Were you there, with him?" Matt asked.

"Well, halfway though. Whatever I needed to teach him he seemed to have grasped, so I left him at it. Nat said he was still meditating when she came out in the morning to do her katas, so" -

"Will you guys stop muttering?" Nat snapped without venom, and Shree just grinned to Matt before turning to what Nat was pointing at.

Nat had unfurled a map which had crosses and lines at particular points. She put one atlas on one end of the large canvas map, and another atlas on the diagonally opposite end. "Now let's see," she muttered. "We need to get here next," she said, tapping at a black cross on the map.

"Sendurst," Gilbert, who was on the other side of Nat, read out slowly.

"It's quite a ways inland, Nat," Shree said. "Will we be able to reach Sendurst as soon as we reach port?"

"No, it'll take at least two days," Nat replied, tracing her finger around. "Give me that book," she said, pointing at one of the atlases while still staring at the map. Eliza, closest to the book, reached out and handed it to Nat.

Nat put it on the map, and began turning pages until she reached the map she wanted. It looked to be an enlargement of the area Nat had been tracing with her fingers, the area between the port they were about to land to and Sendurst. Nat ran her fingers through the paths she could make out and shook her head as she straightened. "Nie. If we keep going without any breaks, it'll take two days. But, with breaks, it will take a lot longer."

"And, as usual, we can't not take breaks," Eliza said, looking pointedly at Gilbert.

"What?" he protested, and the rest of them, excluding Shree, who didn't know, shook their head. Gilbert had one leaky - or seemingly so - bladder, or he felt pukish, or he had one million other ailments which absolutely required them to stop the car every half to three hours.

"Sendurst, huh..." Shree mused, rubbing her chin. "Let me see that map, Nat."

Natalya turned the book and pushed it to Shree, who was sitting opposite her. "What happened?"

"I just remembered something, but I'm not sure..." Shree trailed off.

"Hey! What's happening here?"

They all looked up. Shree smilingly greeted him hello, while Matt grinned at his brother. The other two, who had gotten used to Alfred and his presence, smiled at him. He grinned his sunshine grin at all of them, and walked around Shree and Matt before plopping himself right between his brother and Natalya, making the latter snarl at him. Alfred just cheekily grinned at her, and asked her, "Do you mind?" before putting his head on her shoulder without waiting for her reaction. Nat fumbled for words, shell shocked, unable to think up exactly what it was that she wanted to say, gasping like a fish. Shree just threw her head back and laughed at the condition of her poor friend, who was so shocked she didn't know whether she was supposed to be irritated or not.

Finally gaining her senses over the distinct, pleasant smell of his hair, she raised her free hand, furious enough to push him off the boat and into the water, only to have him whisper, "If you try to push me off, priestess, I'll just have to bite into your neck to hold on. And you already know the feel of my bite."

Nat turned a furious red, and the hand she'd held upright began to shake. Memories flooded her, memories of that day.

_-o-_

_His tongue slid into her mouth, and she moaned - it was an alien feeling, but it felt so, so much at home. His hand was tangled in her hair, and the other one slowly moved down her back, his fingers rubbing circles into her back. The heel of his palm changed the angle of her face, tilted it._

_More. He wanted more._

_He drank out of her, like a parched man reaching an oasis in the few moments before his death. He ate her up, like a child who had to go hungry for too long. Their tongues met, his teeth bit into her lip, and all she could do was moan, helpless in the tumble and rush of sensations that mixed up into one huge tsunami and dragged her underwater._

_What his mouth was doing was the only thing she could concentrate on, until his hand found her derriere and squeezed it hard._

_He pulled back, and they both panted, their lungs burning - with need or lack of air, she didn't know._

_"More. I want more."_

_He pressed his mouth over hers, his tongue running over her lips, then through her teeth. He probed, and drew back, nipping at her lips at one time, nipping at her tongue, gently holding it until she moaned, and then letting go._

_Nat drew back, and dropped her head into the crook of his neck, too...overwhelmed to be able to feel anything anymore. She didn't even know whether she was alive or not, but she could feel his hands brushing her hair away from the back of her neck. "Natalya, you're all sweaty, love," he whispered. "Will your skin taste salty, I wonder," he whispered, mostly to himself, and Nat couldn't feel herself blushing - she was burning all over by a fever he'd ignited in her, and all she could do was burn away until there was nothing left to burn. She felt his mouth sliding over her skin, his lips burning holes into her mind, fueling the flames that were burning between her legs._

_His fingertips seemed to dance on her skin at one time, then press languorous circles into her skin. His fingers slipped beneath her shift, and found the metal clasp holding her binds together. His teeth teased the skin of her neck, and a thousand pinpricks burst underneath her skin over and over again. His tongue probed her skin, soothing it before his teeth gently grasped it in between them. His hand slid underneath her binds, massaging her back._

_All all Nat could do was bury her head deeper into the crook of Alfred's neck and moan._

_Suddenly, Alfred moved, and Nat's eyes flew open, but before she could react, he was on top of her, crouching over her on all fours, and she realised that the bedsheet was now covering her._

_That meant..._

_"Yes, Natalya. If you look down, you're in for a treat," he teased softly, and winked. He placed his elbows on either side of her head, and leaned down. "Do you know how gorgeous you look, baby? I just want to eat you up right here," he murmured, his words flowing over her skin like warm, dribbling honey. "And, if you turn to you right, you'll be able to see what I mean."_

_"H-Huh?"_

_"Oh, darling, you sound so sexy right now," Alfred groaned, and buried his head in her neck. "You smell like lavender, you know that?" he murmured. "There's a mirror to your right. Turn to your right."_

_Involuntarily, she turned to her right, and her gaze met with cloudy eyes in a peculiar shade of blue. If she could turn a deeper shade of pink than she already was, she would have at the sight of...them. Her skin was flushed, her lips were swollen and parted, her eyes were clouded with lust, and her hair was in an absolute disarray, carrying no semblance of the braid she'd arranged it in earlier._

_And there he was, crouching over her, his head in her neck, his bright blond hair contrasting against her sliver tresses. She could see the swelling of his muscles - he was in no way compromised in the department of a Greek God-like body. Scars marked him all over, like an intricate loop playing across his skin. His back sloped upwards before disappearing from the mirror's reflection, and if Nat moved her head in the slightest, she could see much..._

_Aah, she could become a darker shade of pink._

_Alfred raised his head, and their gazes met in the mirror. A powerful jolt of awareness passed through her entire system, and she found herself unable to look away._

_"See what I mean?" he whispered. "Now, don't look away," he murmured as he lowered his head. "See exactly what I see." He lowered his head to the right side of her neck in such a way that she could still see what he was doing._

_And before she knew it, she felt his teeth sink into her neck._

_-o-_

The mark was no longer there, thank God, but she still remembered. With a growl, she turned away, and knew that the durak was grinning, even though she couldn't see him. Because he was thinking about it, too. And she knew Shree was staring at her face, which was still red - in fact, the trip down memory lane just served to make it redder and hotter - and she continued to look away and pointedly ignored everybody.

"Okay, ignoring that for the present," Shree said, looking back into the map book. "Ah! Here!"

Nat's head jolted around. "What?"

"I knew there was a temple nearby," Shree muttered in self-congratulation. "So, see. I don't know how you calculate distance in your head by looking at a map without having to write it down somewhere, but...look here," she said, turning the map. "If we were to stop here," she said, tapping a point on the map, "for a day, and then continue, would it be easier to reach Sendurst?"

Nat thought for a while, then nodded. "Yeah, it would be a lot easier," Nat said. "We could stock up on supplies, stay for a night, and then drive for another day to reach Sendurst. You are right. It would be a lot easier."

"Okay, so it's settled then," Shree said cheerfully, but Matt looked at her suspiciously. Something was wrong here.

Nat frowned long and hard at the book, and Shree quickly said, "If you get tired, I could take up the driving"-

"Which temple is this?" Nat asked slowly.

"Natalya..."

"Shree, which temple is this?"

Shree looked like she was trying for the last time. "Do you think you know?"

"Dy. Shree..."

Shree knew Nat's warning tone when she heard it, and knew it best to give up. "The House of Bell."

"Headquarters?"

Shree answering sigh grew heavier. "Yes."

Nat suddenly got up, and Alfred almost fell down. "I'm not going," Nat said in their common tongue.

"Nat" -

"Nie, Shree," Nat said as Shree got up. "I'm not going."

"You're being" -

"I don't care what I'm being. I'm not going."

"Nat, it was a long time" -

"I don't care, Shree. I don't care how long ago it was. I am not going."

"Don't tell me you still hold a grudge" -

"Maybe I do. Maybe I don't. It doesn't matter. What matters is that I'm not going anytime soon to see that asshole's sorry face."

"But you said it was the best way to go!"

"That was before I knew where we would stay a night - how the hell do you expect me to stay a whole bloody night under that asshole's hospitality?"

"Well, you at least agree he's hospitable."

"Shree!"

"Nat, be logical!"

"I am!"

"No, you're not!" Shree yelled, and she knew that their yelling match had not only gotten the attention of the three still sitting down, but also other boarders of the ship. "Natalya, we don't have time to lose! Demons are already behind Alfred, and you can't waste any more time holding on to an age-old grudge which got settled a long time ago! Do you want to see any of them in danger?"

Nat just stood still. Shree, with experience, knew that Nat was trembling with rage on the inside, but she'd long since learnt how to hide it. But Shree knew, and as much as it hurt her to ask Nat to do something she didn't want to, she...she didn't have a choice, now. If she did, things would be different, but she didn't.

"Nat..." Shree tried one last time.

Nat just turned around and stormed away, muttering, "Do what you want."

"Alya!"

Nat stopped.

"Alya, please," Shree begged, using a nickname that she used only when every part of her being was dead serious.

Nat remained silent. Shree felt like she was repeatedly hitting her head against a wall with cement spikes - with metal tips - jutting out at each corner, when Nat got into this mood.

"You're driving till there. As soon as day breaks, I'm driving the hell out of there." Without another word more, Natalya walked away from them.

Shree just sat down, feeling extremely tired, and leaned on the nearest shoulder she could find, which happened to be Matt's. "That girl...why is she so stubborn?" Shree sighed.

"Why didn't she want to go?"

Shree raised her head, and looked at him. "Huh?"

"Why didn't she want to go to the House of...Bell?"

"How do you know she doesn't want to go there?" Shree asked, surprised. Ever since Shree had said House of Bell, Nat automatically switched to their common tongue.

"I can follow what you say...at least parts of it," Matt said, turning slightly pink under Shree's scrutinizing gaze.

"He's gifted with languages," Eliza supplied, and they turned to her. "He's always been very good with languages."

Shree just nodded. There was definitely more to Mathew Williams Jones than what met the eye. "Well, I can't give you the exact details," Shree said, resignedly, "because Nat would kill me. Still, without the exact details, it would sound a very foolish thing to be angry about. If you think about it, it might be - but as her friend, and because I was there, too, I can understand where she's coming from, as you might put it. At the end of it, the...other party was not offended or did not carry a grudge, but I guess Nat still is angry about it."

"She wouldn't seem like the kind of person who would carry a grudge," Alfred said.

"She isn't," Shree said. "But she takes a long time to forget what has happened. Even if she can forgive it, she can never forget it. And there are some things she will never forgive," Shree murmured, the very remembrance of the things Nat would never forgive drawing grief into her heart.

"So, what happened between frau and the House of Bell?" Gilbert asked.

Shree sighed. She could never make them understand it completely - hell, she wouldn't have understood anything if she hadn't been there herself - but, for Nat's sake, she was going to try.

And she tried.

* * *

"Hey."

_The demon in my head was...a presence. Imagine mist gathering over the water of lake during a winter night - the way it moves, the way it changes its shape at the shifting of winds. My mind was like that lake, and the demon was the mist - there was no form to the demon, unless it was the form of my dead old man during his prime, or sometimes the old hag Alice, also during her prime. But, like heavy winter mist, the demon's presence could be felt, and the demon's voice came from that disembodied, mist-like presence._

"Hello, Alfred."

_The demon was much more...sociable, now. Well, he actually tried to make conversation with me, no matter how much it sucked. I'd come to know the demon was a he, but he didn't tell me his name - he said that their name was associated with their mind, and every time they died and were born again, they were given the same name. It seemed that their people could read the name of their mind, and it was the name they were given through every rebirth they experienced. It was the name used when they were summoned, and it carried a lot of power. It wasn't like our names, apparently, because we were given a name on no such basis, and just on the whims and fancies of the parents. Some cultures were, he said, and those cultures gave the correct names based on the time of the child's birth and the position of the stars and the heavenly bodies at the time of the child's birth. But most cultures in the world of my dead old man's, he said, wasn't like that at all. A name was just a name, and had no power._

"Do you want to talk?"_ I asked him. Sometimes he was in the mood, sometimes he wasn't. I guess he missed home, but he never told me what he thought about otherwise. Like Shree said, there was a lot for me to learn._

"What do you wish to talk about?"

"You could talk about your home."

_I waited for a reply, but got none. He usually didn't start unless I started talking about it, but I guess talking about such a topic would probably not be the best, considering the fact that we'd just started being...not hostile to each other._

"Or we could talk about anything else you want."

_His presence shifted, and moved slowly towards me._ "Are you more comfortable if I take a form before you?" he asked.

"Nah, I'm not particular about anything. Besides, I find it rather...uncomfortable when you take the form of my dead old man and sit in front of me. Can't get much talking done if you do that."

_The demon knew. When Shree used to mediate, he had taken that form a couple of times, and try as I may, I couldn't open up when that...form was in front of me. It was almost disgusting how similar the old man had looked like me, or more precisely, how much I looked like him when he was my age. The only way to differentiate between us was to look at his classy clothes and the beard that he sported, as compared to my tees and jeans and no beard look. And when the demon took that form, his voice would change, too - usually, when he was like mist, he would have a number of different voices speaking his words at the same time - male, female, young, old - all kinds of voices. But when he took the old man's form, the other voices would still be there, but the old man's voice would dominate._

_And I hated - still hate - my old man._

_For abandoning Ma, for separating Mattie and me, and for punishing me for his mistakes - I hated him for all that. And, unlike Mattie, I was glad he was dead, and that the priestess was the one to kill him._

"I shall stay this way, then."

"Suits me just fine," _I told him. I needed to start talking first_. "I don't remember much of when I was a baby. I guess my memory starts around when I was four or five. That time, we used to live with Ma - my mother - in a cabin in the woods. The nearest school was in a village half an hour from our home, and Ma used to drop me and Mattie there every single day, and pick us up when school was through. She'd buy us a cupcake and some sweets from the bakery on our way home every day after school. On Sundays, she'd take us grocery shopping with her, and buy stuff. Mattie loved anything maple, so she'd asked the grocery dude to get maple syrup just for her, from the city. And he did. Mattie drowned - drowns, still - everything in maple syrup," _I chuckled._ "Mum used to make us all these yummy things to eat, and at night, she would make us sleep on either side of her and tell us stories. After a while, though, we were given our own room.

"It used to rain like crazy, where we lived. Terrible thunderstorms and everything. I always say that Mattie was the scared one, and he always said I was, but truth is," _I laughed,_ "we both were scared shitless. Ma would come then, and sleep with us. She'd make Mattie milk and cracker sandwiches with maple syrup, while I'd get hot chocolate and choco-chip cookies. Clearly, I got the better end of the deal," _I chuckled. The demon was closely listening to me. At times like this, the focus of his presence would be on me, and it was palpable - I could feel it. That's how I knew he was listening._

"We were there with Ma until we were fourteen or fifteen. Then..."

_I couldn't get myself to say anything any more. The memory hurt so much. All those memories. They hurt me like nothing else could._ "I guess you could say I was the happiest back then - no worries, with my Ma and Mattie. That was my home."

_And that's all I could say. My throat felt like it was swelling up on the inside, and it hurt. So did the inside of my ears. My nose began to run, and my eyes were filling up quickly. The red I envisioned as the inside of my mind grew blurred, and I drew up my knees to my chest, cradling myself. Home. That was home. And I'd left it all behind, on that godawful day._

_The day I met my dead old man._

* * *

**A.T: The thing is, I actually wanted to continue it until the demon spoke about his home, too. But when I reached the last sentence you see here, I realised...it was perfect, actually. And I decided to leave it at this.**

**I introduced two of my friends to Cowboy Bebop...and they love it. For all of y'all haven't seen Cowboy Bebop - GO WATCH IT. Or, if nothing else, go listen to the OST of the show. You will not find classier pieces of music as any piece in the OST of Cowboy Bebop. Yoko Konna is an absolute genius.**

**Also, I suggest Black Lagoon, Chobits and Trigun. Watch Trigun until episode 7 - things get spicy from then on ;) For some reason, I seem to like the seventh episode of all four anime, which I find extremely cool.**

**Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. See you again next week!**

**All my love,**

**R. K. Iris.**


	15. The Temple of Bell

**A.T: A Big shoutout to Pinkdoughnuts and Anonymous for reviewing! YOUR REVIEWS MAKE ME HAPPY...SHOW A GIRL SOME LOVE.**

**Saw Deadpool today. Needless to say... Freaking A. **

**Check it out as soon as possible! Possibly right now.**

**Damnit, I'm sleepy.**

**Don't own Hetalia. If you ever thought I did for a second...I don't know. Think about what you are if you did think that.**

* * *

gamle mænd - Dan - Old men

Maya Orjena - Head Priest

Dy - Bel - Yes.

* * *

**Chapter 15**

"You drive well, Shree."

"Thank you, Matt," Shree grinned to Mathew, and turned back on the road.

Alfred, who was sitting next to Matt in the shotgun seat, turned from staring into the wilderness to staring at Shree. "How the hell did the two of you become best friends?"

"What do you mean?" Shree singsoned.

"Exactly my point. You _sing_ for everything, you're perpetually cheerful, and the only time I've seen you relatively angry is when that demon came charging in and tried to get one on your best friend," Alfred said dryly. "You literally possess all the qualities which seem to irritate your friend if it were coming from anyone else, but not you. So...how?"

"Well, to tell you the truth," Shree said, "I wasn't like this when I met her. When we met, I was really shy."

"No kidding?" Alfred asked, surprised.

"Yeah. I used to hide behind Raj all the time, and never used to talk. Nat got me talking, actually," Shree admitted, "And her confidence about certain things is infectious. Stay around her long enough, and you'll develop enough self-confidence to know what it is that you want."

The two of them turned to Natalya, who was sleeping on Elizabeta's shoulder, who herself was balancing Gilbert's sleeping head on her other shoulder and sleeping through it all. Nat, it seemed, felt sleepy if she was in a moving vehicle - unless she was driving, she would sleep through entire journeys. Gilbert and Eliza had been studying the books they had gotten from the Shankha Mandira the entire night, and they'd been sleepy even through breakfast, their last meal on the ship that had ferried them from the island to the mainland.

"What kind of a person is the head of the House of Bell?" Matt asked.

"He's nice," Shree mouthed conspiratorially, and laughed softly. "He's a nice guy. He's a bit loud and has a tendency to be a very hard worker when it suits him. But he's very knowledgeable, being the Head of an academic House" -

"What's the difference?"

"Hmm?" Shree darted a look at Alfred.

"What's the difference? Between an academic House and a warrior House? You guys seem to know all these incantations already. What difference does it make?"

Shree thought for a while, then smiled. "Well, it does seem that way, doesn't it? I'll just assume this is based on your interactions with Nat and me, and people associated to us, like Om and Raj to me, and Katyusha to her."

"Even that gun toting trigger happy priest"-

Shree laughed loudly. "You've met Basch and Lili? Wonderful. It makes sense now. Okay, so, because your introduction into our world is through Nat, it would seem that there isn't much difference between the Houses. But you must remember that Nat is a Deputy, and therefore you would get to meet people of her rank, or of higher ranks than her, if I'm not wrong, like the Head of the House. If the ranking system of the Houses were to be applied to us at the _Shankha Mandira_, then I guess I, too would be a Deputy."

Shree took a turn around the bend, and after ascertaining the road ahead was mostly a straight path, turned her attention to them. "Okay, so, from what I understand, you've only spoken properly to people of Nat's rank, or of ranks higher than Nat - well, actually, there's only one rank higher than hers, and that's the Head of the House. Then there's Om, but that's a long story. Anyways, you haven't really spoken to anyone below Nat's rank - there are quite a number of ranks below hers, and then there are the students. That's because what the members of the House are usually taught is different from what the topmost three ranks are taught - that's the House Head, the Deputy and the Deputy's student. Exclude these three ranks from whatever I say next.

"In Warrior Disciplines, they are taught how to fight, the kind of weapons to make to fight beings from other Realms, and the part of the scriptures concerned with offense and defense. Sometimes, where weapons cannot work, such incantations work.

"In case of Academic Houses...okay, before that, I have to tell you about our Scriptures. It is a set of connected works, which used to be previously passed down orally, but were finally compiled. It contained the information about the worlds before this one...basically, it's a huge deal. The sages who received this work during their intense meditation became the founders of a new order, now which we call as the _Shankha Mandira_.

"As time went on, the works were compiled, and to make the Scriptures simpler to understand, eight sages wrote commentaries on the Scriptures, and taught the Scriptures to the people through these commentaries. These commentaries were about the same thing, but approached the Scriptures in eight different ways. The eight sages gained disciples, and thus, the eight Houses were born.

"The Scripture divides itself into three parts - two parts dealing with rituals and one part dealing with the knowledge of the world, Realms and of ourselves. Uniformly, the third part is taught to all Houses. The difference is in which ritualistic part they take.

"One deals with dealing with activities in the other Realm through physical means - that is, by going to other Realms in flesh. This ritualistic part is taught in Warrior Houses. In Academic Houses, the second ritualistic part is taught, where their impact on other Realms is not physical, but through their spiritual powers. More importantly, in Academic Houses, they also deal with day-to-day situations, and they are also trained as to what to do if there are situations within the Realm itself. For example, if there is a birthing of a child, you call a priest from an Academic House. If there is need for an exorcism, you call a priest from a Warrior House. If there's a marriage, you approach the Academic House. And if someone dies, you call both Houses - the Warrior House will do the rituals necessary for the _moda's_ safe passage into the next birth, and the Academic House will do the rituals necessary for keeping the _moda_ of the deceased at rest and for helping the family members cope with sorrow. Do you follow me till now?"

Matt nodded. "I read about this in one of the books you gave me."

Alfred frowned. "I kinda follow you, but it'll take me a while to process. Still, continue."

"Okay. The difference between the first three ranks I told you about and the rest of the House is that all members of these three ranks from all Houses are taught the entire Scripture, regardless of which House they're from. There is a certain amount of preference given to the specific rituals of their House, of course, but for the most part, they're all taught the entire Scripture. The future House Heads and the Students of Deputies all take part in a five year course in an institution called the...well, translated, it's called the Academy. And it is usually always on one of the islands of the Shankha Mandira. That's where Nat and I became roommates, during her course as a Student of Deputy, and mine as Om's extension into the world."

Both Matt and Alfred opened their mouths into 'o's, and nodded to each other in understanding. "Makes sense now," Alfred said.

"So the three ranks you mentioned know as much as you do," Matt said.

"We're all brought to the same level in five years. After that, what we do with that knowledge depends on our circumstances," Shree said. "Is it a right or a left, further ahead?"

Matt peered into the map. "Left," he said.

Shree smiled. "And here we go," she singsoned as she made the turn. "Can you see the temple from here?"

Alfred stuck his head out of the window. "Yeah. Another ten minutes."

"Any unpleasantness you may witness," Shree warned them as Alfred took his head back in, "do not be a part of it. Trust me, you'll get sucked into something you don't even want to know."

Shree drove on. As the three of them watched, a huge wall came into view, almost thirty feet into the air, built of stone having a metallic sheen. The doors were enormous, with gold trims and chocolate-brown paneling, but the door wasn't the same height as the wall - instead, it came up to around twenty feet, and above it was a hole in the wall, separated from the door by a layer of stone. And in that hole stood a huge, majestic bell.

"Quite an elaborate doorbell," Alfred commented, and Shree laughed. "It's their sign. They take a lot of pride in it, and they consider the bell to be their messenger to God. Plus, it's made of a special kind of bronze - its ring is supposed to have healing properties. I, personally, have seen it happen," Shree said, and stopped the car in front of the door. Matt and Alfred peered at it through the windshield, and found the familiar marks that seemed to adorn every inch of space of the temples they'd been to by then.

At an oddly familiar sound, they turned to see Shree blowing into a huge, rather elaborate conch. The sound was...soothing, oddly. Behind them, the three asleep stirred, Nat waking up first.

The bell rung, and Alfred and Matt looked at each other in surprise. The sound...it was surreal. Alfred felt his heartbeat through the sound of the bell, and felt his blood pressure drop. Matt, on the other hand, felt his heart quicken at the sound of the bell.

Shree lowered the counch from her mouth, and fixed it at her hip. The doors before them swung slowly inwards, opening out a large courtyard. Shree drove into the temple, and stopped in the middle of the courtyard. "You guys get down here. I'll join you in a bit."

All of them climbed out of the car, and watched Shree drive away. Gilbert stretched and yawned. "An awesome nap for an awesome me."

"Yeah, if a nap is six hours long," Alfred said. "You didn't even get up when we stopped for a break."

"You guys stopped?" Eliza asked, and chuckled sheepishly. "I guess I was out cold."

Nat looked around distastefully, and grimaced, not paying any attention to them.

"Hey, priestess, don't look so sour," Alfred called out. Nat just snarled at him, and went back to grimacing at everything she saw.

"Okay," Alfred said, and shrugged to Matt. "Oh look, someone's coming," he muttered, and only Matt heard. He turned, and saw a man walking towards them, with purple eyes and platinum blond hair. He wore a brown overcoat which reached his knees, and the rest of his legs were covered in brown pants. He wore black slippers which were made of a material Matt couldn't identify, and the cuff of his red shirt peeked out from the top of his coat.

"Is that a male Natalya?" Alfred whispered, and Matt chuckled. "Idiot," he whispered, and moved aside when a hand brushed his arm. Natalya walked past him, and they watched the silver haired man smile at Nat. "Welcome, Priestess Arlovskaya."

"There's no need to be so formal," Nat said back, and they could sense the smile in her voice as well.

"Hello, Natalya. How was your trip?"

"I have no idea," she replied. "I slept through the whole trip. How are you, Emil?"

"I am fine. It's been too long, Natalya."

Nat nodded. "It has. Emil, these are my friends," she said, and turned around to include the rest of them. "This is" -

"Hey. I'm Alfred Williams," Alfred said. "How do you do?"

"Hello. I'm Mathew Williams. Thank you for having us here," Matt said.

"I'm Elizabeta Herdevary," Eliza said, bowing slightly. "And this is"-

"The awesome Gilbert Beilschmidt!" Gilbert yelled, and dodged Eliza's pan before it connected with his skull. He jumped right back up and yelled louder, "The awesome Gilbert Beilschmidt!"

"How does someone manage to be louder than Mathias?" a voice came from behind them, and they turned to see another man, with blond hair shorter than Emil and an inverted cross pinning a portion of his hair away from his face. He wore the same clothes as Emil, but was much taller than him, and wore a cap over his head.

"You're just in time to meet such people. How are you, Lukas?"

"Oh, Natalya. Hello," the young man said, thinly veiled astonishment in his voice.

"Surprised to see her? Hey, Luke," Shree said popping up from behind Nat.

Luke smiled at the sight of Shree. Emil had come and stood next to Shree, and he was grinning as well. "Shree! How long it has been!" he said, moving forward and clasping Shree's hands.

"You look well, Luke. You too, Emil," Shree smiled at both of them.

"Why do I smell a demon in the air?"

Alfred's hackles rose without warning, and all of them turned to a tall man with spiky blond hair, who was casually ambling towards them. "Never thought the day would come when I'd see you in the House of Bell, Natalya. Not that I'm complaining, of course," the man continued, "but I can't keep quiet when you get a demon along with you into my home."

"The only demon here is you, you mudak," Nat said in quiet contempt.

"Nat, easy," Shree said softly, and turned to the man, who was easily two heads taller than herself, and almost the same height as Alfred. "Hello, Mathias. Or do I have to use your formal name?"

"I'm always Mathias to you, Shree," the man said, his blue eyes twinkling. "And I'm always Mathias to you, too, Natalya. You look well."

Nat just turned her face away, to which Shree said warningly, "Nat..."

"You look well, too," Nat snapped off bitterly.

"Well, that wasn't so hard now, right?" Mathias said cheerfully. "And who do we have here?"

"How about we discuss that in private?" Shree responded equally cheerfully.

"Not until I know why I feel a demon in my presence."

"Maybe you're finally showing your true colours," Nat muttered.

"Nat," Shree chided, and Nat sighed. "We're here for a night's rest. We leave tomorrow morning. We need to reach Sendurst. The rest of it is in here," she said, pulling out a letter from the bag over her shoulder. "Now would you mind extending the courtesy you pride yourself over?"

"Don't be difficult, Natalya. I would hope we've left the past in the past," Mathias said as he went over the contents of the letter Nat had given him. "And as usual, Katyusha is...informative - oh, look, a post script from Duruni," Mathias said, surprised. He frowned as he read the contents, and scanned them again. He tapped the letter twice, closed his eyes and lowered it. When he opened his eyes, they were cheerful again.

"I guess we can accommodate them in To-your room, Natalya," he said, regret and sorrow instantly filling his eyes. "I'm really sorry for your loss."

Nat just nodded, the venom from her face gone. "We've left the past...in the past, Køhler," the words shuddered out of Nat. "I shall give a full report, but in private...like Shree said."

"Well, then, why don't we head to the quarters, then? Where's your luggage?"

Nat looked up, suddenly remembering their luggage. Shree rested her hand reassuringly on Nat's shoulder. "I had someone take care of it."

"Well, I guess I must introduce myself, then," Mathias said, and turned to the troop. "Good evening, all of you. I am Mathias Køhler, Head Priest of the House of Bell. These are my deputies, Emil Steinsson and Lukas Bondevik, brothers by blood and and by choosing. Welcome to this humble temple."

"How are there two Deputies here? I mean, I don't know all that well about how things go here, but..." Eliza asked, growing shy under Mathias's gaze. Wow, he was handsome - what with that wild blond hair and drooping blue eyes...if he wasn't a priest, there were a lot of things Eliza could think of him being, all of which weren't too far away from what was considered as sin in her religion.

He smiled lazily at her, and she had a feeling he knew what kind of effect he had on people. "Well, you are right. It's an exception - they both are equals, and they both qualified to be Deputies. So..." he said, and turned to Shree. "You've really grown since the last time I saw you. Especially your hair."

Shree laughed. "Yeah. Decided that I should really stop looking like...Alfred, what's the word?"

"Which word?"

"The word you used for that teenager on the ship."

"Oh. Punk."

"A punk," Shree chuckled, and turned to see Nat walking away with everyone except the two of them, Emil and Lukas.

"Natalya has...grown," Emil noted quietly as he reached Shree's side, and Lukas reached Mathais's.

"I didn't recognize her when I first saw her, truth be told," Shree confessed sheepishly. "She's given up whatever remnants of child-like innocence she had after...you know."

"He died a year ago, Shree," Mathias said matter-of-factly. "I know it isn't long enough to lessen the pain she has, but it is long enough for her to accept it, and for us to do so, too. We can't keep skirting around the subject just to pacify her - we're babying her if nothing else, and there's no sense in doing so."

"It's not like she'll not talk about it, Mathias," Shree interjected, "it's just that...see, whenever the topic comes, her face just...falls. And I don't know about others, but when that happens in front of me, I don't have the heart to tell her anything more or ask her anything more."

"That does make sense," Mathias said, and kept quiet for a while. "Does that demon have anything to do with what he was doing before he died?"

"He isn't a demon, firstly," Shree corrected, "and the demon's stuck inside him. Neither of them asked for it, really. But it so happens that the demon was what drew the previous Deputy to Fitzgerald, and Nat just picked up from where he...left off."

"Fitzgerald," Lukas mused. "So that's what was nagging me. They're his sons."

"Yes. They're lovely people, Alfred and Matt," Shree said, looking at their receding backs. Feeling Mathias's intense gaze on her, she looked up and asked, "What?"

"Who's got your interest?"

"Heh?" Shree asked.

"Never mind," Mathias said, looking back up. "I think I know."

"Tell me! What do you mean?" Shree whined, grabbing hold of Mathias's arm.

"I'm not telling you, but I think you'll understand soon enough," Mathias said, and winked at her.

Shree pushed him away, and mock-pouted. "I don't like you very much."

"Oh, Shree," Mathias said, sticking his hands into his pocket, "You love me and I know it."

* * *

"So that's how it is," Mathias mused. His two Deputies were by his side, and the six of them sat before him. "It's rather complicated, if you ask me," he said, chuckling sheepishly. "Seems like trouble comes finding you, Natalya."

Nat didn't respond, and looked pointedly away from him.

"But, Nat, you're really lucky that it's me you have to deal with. If it was any of the _gamle mænd, _they would have kicked you out long" -

"I don't think the House of Bell can risk enraging the House of Wheel" -

"Not if they're defending themselves from a demon" -

"Don't say that again, _mudak_," Nat growled. He is not a demon."

"You're not in a position to order _maya orjena _around, Natalya," Lukas said quietly.

"I prefer ordering around than making idle threats," Nat replied just as quietly.

"I know from experience that none of her threats are empty ones," Mathias said smiling. "But why are you so defensive of him not being a demon?" he asked with seeming casualness, but Nat and Shree weren't fooled at all.

"Natalya..." Emil began, "you have been with these people for a very long time, so your senses might have gotten accustomed to them. But if you remind yourself of the feeling _you_ got on the first day you met Mr Alfred, you may - no, will - understand how we're feeling right now."

Nat kept herself from snarling at Emil just because she knew he was right. Emil was always the voice of reason - she and Mathias had clashed multiple times, and while Lukas was always defending Mathias, Emil was best at putting things into perspective. It was one of the many reasons she respected Emil and found it in her to be courteous to him.

And she saw what Emil meant - Alfred's aura to a spiritually tuned person presented not only danger, but also highly powerful demonic energy. What Emil wasn't correct about was her getting used to Alfred's energy - she could sense him the easiest in a room full of people, and he was the first person she would spot in any crowd.

Nat, however, had a feeling that those things had nothing to do with Alfred's demonic presence at all. Instead...

She refused to think about it. Whatever it was, she got the point Emil was trying to make.

The first day she met Alfred...how many months had it been? Six? Seven? She had no freaking clue. And sometimes, if she closed her eyes, she could fool herself into forgetting why she was here and what she was doing with these people. But it would never last long enough.

"Where are you going next?" Mathias asked.

"I told you" -

"I mean after Sendurst," Mathias interrupted.

"Chalasky," Nat said.

"To install an idol again?"

"_Dy,_" Nat replied.

"I have a suggestion to make. You may take it or leave it, as you wish."

Nat had a biting reply at the tip of her tongue with regards to what he could do with his suggestion, but she felt Shree's gaze on her, and sighed.

"What is it?" Mathias asked her with a gentleness she knew he was capable of.

"It's easy to forget my present position when I'm surrounded by faces of the past," Nat said, and looked up at him. "What is your suggestion?"

"Stay here a while longer" -

"I cannot do that" -

"Natalya! Do not show disrespect!" Lukas warned.

"You've got a problem with me, Bondevik?" Nat growled dangerously.

"Ooh! A fight!" Mathias yelled excitedly, forgetting his position there altogether.

"Nat! Luke!" Shree yelled at them pleadingly, but Nat's hand was already over the butt of her gun, and Lukas's hand was gripping the end of his sword.

"Fight! Fight!" Mathias chanted happily, banging his fists to his knees, and watched curiously, his chanting reducing in decibels as Alfred rose and walked towards Nat. He stopped at her side in such a way that while she could still see Lukas and he in now way blocked her vision, his face was right next to her, facing hers.

"Natalya," he whispered. "I don't know what your beef is with them, but I'll tell you this. And you won't be able to stop me once I've started, even if you stop just to do that."

His words shocked Nat right out of her belligerence. Her eyes slowly moved over her friends - except for the silent plea in Shree's eyes, the rest of them all looked ready to attack whoever Natalya took a strike at.

Nat's own words reverberated in her head - _It's easy to forget my present position when I'm surrounded by faces of the past. _But Nat hadn't the luxury to forget her present position.

She was no longer in the Academy, where all of them were on an equal standing, where all of them were students. Now, they were out of the Academy, and Nat was no longer a Deputy's Student, under the protection of a Deputy. _She _ was a Deputy now, and Mathias Køhler, for all her animosity towards him, was the Head Priest of a House, and there was a code of conduct that needed to be followed.

And she would be damned to hell before she let her behaviour reflect on the people who brought her up and made her who she was.

Nat relaxed, and looked at Alfred. If he wasn't there...she looked into those brilliant blue eyes. He might have been locked away from the world for many years, but he had a wisdom that Nat sometimes felt she didn't have, or she would never have. And somehow...he was always there. They all were.

And it had been a very long time since she felt that thought cross her mind.

She looked into his eyes, and he seemed to understand. With a slight tilt of the head to acknowledge her decision, he turned and sat back down in his place.

Nat sat down, and felt her companions relax. She turned to Mathias. "I'm being very unprofessional, aren't I?" she said, a slight smile on her lips. "I'm very sorry to both the Deputies and _Orya marjena_ for my inexcusable beha" -

"Hey, hey, Natalya. No need to be like that," Mathias reassured.

"Honestly, you need to do something about those mood swings of yours," Lukas grinned, sitting back in his seat.

"Drop it, Luke," Shree warned. "Accept graciousness graciously."

Lukas just shook his head as if to say 'Whatever', and said nothing.

"You were saying something about a suggestion?" Shree reminded Mathias, who had clearly been trying to recollect what he had been talking about.

"Yes! My suggestion. Thank you, Shree," he said. "Okay. I have two suggestions. First, stay a bit longer. Why you should is mostly connected to my second suggestion. So, I would mostly say it is one suggestion. Shree, you were trying to communicate with the demon within this young man?"

Shree ignored Alfred grumbling about how they must have been of the same age, and looked at Mathias. "Yes. I am teaching Alfred how to communicate with the demon as well."

"Good. Then find out which Realm the demon is from. Why that is" -

\- "is connected to your second suggestion. Which is?" Nat asked, her characteristic dryness entering her voice.

"Visit a certain Warrior House on your way to Chalasky. If you stay here for a while, Shree can concentrate on teaching Mr Alfred to communicate with his demon, and I can send a letter to the temple. By then, I'm sure Shree can find out which Realm the demon is from. Since it's a warrior House, they will have records of the different Realms and you can figure out what the best plan of action is then on, with some help from the members of the temple. Otherwise, you could always go ahead with installing the idols in the manner _Duruni _has told you" -

"Which House is this?" Nat said.

"It's a temple, around fifty miles from Chalasky" -

"Which. House. Is. It?" Nat gritted between her teeth.

"This might make you slightly nostalgic" -

"Mathias," Nat ground out.

"Alright, Alright. I'm talking about the House of Flame."

The rest of them watched as both Shree and Nat snapped to attention.

"Ther temple is affiliated to the House of flame. It's rather small, but you can stay there for a while before you move to Chalasky. And if you stay here for a while, I can send the letter to get the right man to help you with...this."

"And who is that?" Nat asked, tense.

"Ivan Braginsky."

* * *

**A.T.: *Drum roll***

**Finally, we're at this part.**

**I was really planning to get a little bit PruHun into this, since I've been neglecting it for far too long, but right now, I'm at the stage where the plot isn't moving at a fast enough pace for _me_, but I don't want to miss out on the details. So, PruHun, and the history between Mathias and Nat next chappie. And you may get to see Ivan Braginsky, aka Russia (you never know *wink wink*)**

**It's been quite a week. I realised commuting from home to college is not going to happen, and I'll have to stay in the Hostel itself. It's been quite hectic, and I'm glad I'm on my one-chapter-a-week routine.**

**And I plan to spice things up next chappie, but not the pairing you think. I'll let you guess out that one.**

**All of you who haven't seen Psycho Pass or Nodmane Cantabile - GO WATCH IT. It's awesome.**

**I can't keep my eyes anymore. I'm going to upload this, and hit the sack.**

**All my love,**

**R. K. Iris.**

**P.S.: I'm sorry about the chapters getting smaller and smaller. I'll do something about it, I promise.**


	16. Blue Eyes which excite me

**A.T.: THANK YOU, PINKDOUGHNUTS, FOR YOUR REVIEW! Yeah, I think you're onto something there ;)**

**Guys, review, please - it makes my day like nothing else can.**

**We've established whether I own Hetalia or not, but to all those confused, no, I don't own Hetalia.**

* * *

JA pahardžać jaho - Bel - I despise him

tupień - Bel - dumbass

mudak - Bel - asshole

Frau, Fraulein - Ger - Lady, Woman

* * *

**Chapter 16**

Natalya stared into the leaves, watched the sunlight dance yellow between the cool green blades. Her fingers rubbed idly against the inscriptions on her _Keshi_, and her mind was...blank. She was thinking too many things at one time, then nothing at all, all at random.

She just wanted to be alone. She was born alone, and for the longest time, she had lived alone. And for a short while ago, she had been more alone than she'd ever felt in her life. For some reason, she found loneliness comforting, but the part of her that refused to feel sorry for her said that if these people all went away, she'd miss their company.

So she refused to think about loneliness, and knew that no matter how tightly she closed her eyes, her life would not return to what it was. When she'd picked up his journal and read it from end to end, she'd sealed her fate then and there.

How her fingers itched for a fight. Finding who he was talking about hadn't been easy - Nat had to travel through Realms, search for clues in libraries, and fight and fight until the numbness become a companion rather than a stranger. No, finding Johnny Doe hadn't been easy at all.

But everything that happened afterwards...somehow, she didn't feel like she was ignoring the numbness that had settled inside her heart like a lead anchor in a sea of ice, one that had been dropped the day of his funeral. She didn't even see it as a companion anymore - no, it was not that. Now, it was as if...the sea of ice was finally melting, and the anchor was finally going to be able to move again.

Elizabeta. Gilbert. Matt. Alfred. Shree. Maybe this was his way of making sure that she wasn't lonely ever again. The day he'd taken her with him, he'd promised her he'd make sure she was never lonely again. She'd never known him to break a promise. Maybe...maybe it was his will.

"Natalya! There you are!"

Nat got up, and saw Elizabeta running towards her. She'd finally been found. Nat watched Eliza run up to the car, and look up at her on the roof. "What are you doing there?"

Nat itched to say '_Being alone_', which would no doubt make her leave, but Nat knew that it would genuinely hurt Eliza, and she liked the older woman a lot more than she let on. It was hard not to get close to the only woman she'd been travelling with for a very long time, a woman who made sure that there was a blanket on Nat every time she dozed off.

Nat swung her legs to one side, and jumped off the roof of the car. "What happened?"

"Oh, nothing. No one knew where you were, so...I was wondering if...you were fine..."

Nat couldn't resist a smile. She was as bad as Katyusha in worrying about her. "I'm fine. Do you want me to show you around this place?"

"You've been here before?" Eliza asked, surprised.

Nat removed her coat and wrapped it around her waist. "It's really hot," she muttered, and looked at Eliza. "I've been here once or twice. The first time was when I was appointed as the Deputy's Student, a couple of years ago. I'd got a guided tour then, so if we get lost...well..."

"I'm sure we can ask someone," Eliza said cheerily.

That was another thing Nat liked about Eliza. Unlike Shree's cheeriness, which could mean one of many things, ranging from I'm-hyper-crazy-happy to I'm-going-to-make-you-into-a-shish-kebab-and-feed-you-to-your-dogs, Eliza's cheery meant I'm happy. Her angry meant I'm angry. She was surprisingly straightforward, and Nat knew that she trusted Eliza to tell her the truth. "Yes, I'm sure we can."

The entire campus of the temple was beautiful. Nat talked a little about all the places they came about, and the first thing Eliza noticed were the number of trees there were. There were trees all over the place, and the area under each tree was cleared off. Most trees had benches under them; other trees had a low compound under them, probably made for sitting as well.

"Here, they take lessons underneath the trees," Nat explained, noticing where Eliza's attention had turned. "But they're under specific trees, and the lessons taught under certain trees are specific as well. The properties of the tree enhances certain thoughts, so only those lessons are taught under them."

"Are there no classrooms here?" Eliza asked in wonder.

"Nope. The classes are either taken under the tree, or in the temple. Have you seen the temple, inside?"

"Oh, no, not yet."

"Let's go, then," Nat said, and led the way. From anywhere within the campus, the roof of the inner sanctum sanctorum could be seen. It was a tapering roof, and until then all the roofs of the sanctum sanctorum that Eliza had seen carried idols of demons and Gods, but this one was...plain.

"This roof is simple," Eliza commented to Nat.

Nat chuckled. "Wait till you see the inside."

-O-

Eliza gasped.

The temple was _huge_.

The entrance of the temple opened into a large, square shaped yard with corridors and rooms on four sides, and the sanctum sanctorum in the middle, at a distance from the entrance, which, in itself, was huge. It seemed to have four entrances - Eliza could only see people entering and leaving from three, and guessed the fourth. Other than the large corridors on the periphery of the yard, the rest of it was open to the blue skies above. The uncovered pathway was large enough to accommodate enormous trees and _still_ have enough space for five people to walk in a line on either side of them.

The temple reverberated with the sounds of chanting, and Eliza could see scores of students sitting before an elderly priest, avidly listening to him or repeating what she was saying. Eliza could see people from outside, too, coming to take their fill of the sacred deity within the sanctum sanctorum.

"Let's sit for a while," Nat said, climbing onto the peripheral corridors, which were at a height from the uncovered pathways. She held her hand out for Eliza to hold. "We have walked quite a lot."

Eliza took her hand, and pulled herself on the raised platform. They walked a little, and sat down.

"This place is so...peaceful," Eliza said, letting the chime of bells and the beats of mantras wash over her senses.

"True," Nat said. "They focus more on increasing their spiritual powers. The more advanced studies take place in temples."

"How is this different from your temple?" Eliza asked, curious.

Nat laughed. "Oh, very. For one, people are very strict here, and" -

"Makes you wonder how I became head priest, doesn't it?"

Eliza looked up to see Mathias Køhler, but her eyes met crimson eyes instead. Her heart slowed a little, paused, almost, before beating faster - every time was just like the first time. Those crimson eyes smiled at her, invited her in, threatened to swallow her whole. And Eliza...Eliza couldn't -

Nat grimaced at Mathias. "What are you doing here?"

"It is my temple, Natalya. I was just showing Dr Beilschmidt around. Something in the book he was reading caught his eye, and he wanted to clarify it with me. May I sit down?"

"It is your temple, Køhler," Nat muttered, and turned to Gilbert and Lukas, who were standing behind Mathias. "Where are the others?"

"Matt is in the library, and Shree is with Alfred," Gilbert said. "But why worry about them when the awesome me is here?" He walked over to where Eliza was sitting, and sat down beside her. Lukas took his place next to Mathias, who was sitting next to Nat.

"This place is the same from the last time I came here," Nat said, the venom in her voice gone, her eyes taken in by the bittersweet nostalgia. "Maybe there are a few more trees, but..."

Mathias sighed, and looked at the sky. "No matter how many years go, and how many of us Head Priests and Deputies come, this place will be standing, still the same. But if you say things like that, Natalya, it doesn't reflect well on me as a Head Priest."

"Well, it would reflect worse on you if you actually did something to change this place, considering your level of thoughtfulness and foresight," Nat said, looking at Mathias. She turned to Lukas, who was glaring holes into her head. "Relax, Lukas. I was joking. As much as _JA_ _pahardžać jaho_, I wouldn't have anyone else to be in his position."

Mathias and Lukas both looked surprised. Mathias, the first to recover, smiled softly at Nat. "You've grown up, Natalya."

"And so have you, Køhler. You're not as much of a _tupień_ as you used to be. No fun in making fun of you anymore, actually," Nat said almost regretfully.

Mathias gave his loud, characteristic boom of a laugh and patted Nat's back with unnecessary strength, enough to make Nat snarl at him. "Aww, Natalya, don't say that."

"Hands off me, _mudak_."

"Okay, okay," Mathias said good-humouredly, and smiled at Nat. "I wonder what he'd say if he saw you, today."

Mathias watched as her face fell, his eyes also picking up Eliza and Gilbert watching her. The proud, silver-blond haired beauty before him struggled with her emotions, and Mathias understood what Shree had told him the day before.

_"It's not like she'll not talk about it, Mathias...it's just that...see, whenever the topic comes, her face just...falls. And I don't know about others, but when that happens in front of me, I don't have the heart to tell her anything more or ask her anything more."_

But Mathias knew that Nat needed to talk about how she felt, if not to him, then to somebody who would understand. He watched as she recovered herself and got her emotions under her control. Her breath moved out of her in a long exhale, and she looked at him with a smile, a smile that made him truly understand why she was the Deputy of the second strongest Warrior House in the World. "He's tease me, and tell me I'm still a baby, no matter how much others say I've grown up."

_You wonderful woman, _Mathias thought, as proud of her as _he_ would ever be. _You truly wonderful woman._

* * *

"The land I come from is nothing like this one. We see colours you could never see, take forms you cannot imagine, and enjoy a life you could never experience."

_Shree, next to me, nodded as she listened. The demon - I called him Tony - had taken the form of an alien. You know, almond shaped head, small red eyes, white from top to bottom, the works. He'd seen it in one of the books that I'd picked up at a store on our way here. Shree had laughed the first couple of times she had to encounter Tony like this, but then she'd gotten used to it, and could hold serious conversations with him. _

"Our people are different from your people. Your people stay in one form, bound to it, unable to escape it until death. Ours...we're the same as our surroundings. You do not experience that here, since you are distinct from your surroundings. But...that's not true for us. Our people...flow into one another. _Moda..._that's your word for the mind, yes?"

_Shree nodded. "_It's a little more complex than that, but yes, I think you and I mean the same thing. _Moda _is more like...consciousness."

"Consciousness. Our minds were distinct from each other. We flowed in the same river of consciousness, yet we were distinct drops of water. When it suited us, we took on a form. That is how it is in my world."

_I...I couldn't have imagined it. Yet, I knew what he was talking about - Tony and I were like that, like two distinct drops. But we weren't in a river - no, we were a puddle. He was one half, and I was the other - there was no way for someone else to tell us apart, but we knew ourselves distinctly from our indistinguishable form. I couldn't have imagined something like that any other time, but now...now I knew what he was talking about._

"And each mind has its own name. Each mind can be distinguished from one another by its name. That is how we take our separate forms. That is how we are summoned from the river of consciousness."

"You have a different word for it, too, don't you?" _Shree said, rocking back and forth. "Jhenizso..._that's what you call it, right?"

"Priestess...you have guessed my home?"

_I looked from Shree to Tony. There wasn't much room on Tony's current form for him to really be able to express himself through...well, expressions, but I knew what he was feeling. I should, because _he was in my freaking head.

_But Shree caught the drift, too. She continued to rock back and forth, but the expression in her eyes had changed. She was no longer a listener, and I was having the same feeling Tony was having - She knew something._

"Not really...but I have a feeling," _Shree murmured softly. Honestly, for all her clear, readable expressions, Shree Sharma was one unreadable gal._

"A feeling..." _Tony said softly. _"Why would you want to know?"

"We are going to meet a man, Tony," _Shree said. She'd rocked slower and slower, and now she was still, but her arms were wrapped around her knees, covering everything except her eyes from where I was looking. _"And this man has been to almost all the Realms, even though he's a few years elder to me...maybe seven. He is a spiritual prodigy, a man who has intimate knowledge about each Realm. And if I can believe the rumors, then maybe...maybe he could help us return you back to your home Realm, so that this part of you can reunite with the rest of you back home."

"But I am bound to Johnny Doe's _moda_" -

"True. But I believe this man will find us a way around that. The longer you stay in here, Tony, the worse it will get for you and Alfred. And I don't want anything to happen to either of you."

"Can this man help us?" _Tony asked. I knew his desperation. He knew what the situation was. People in his Realm had put a bounty on my head, but they didn't know that if I died, he would die along with me. And all he wanted to do was to go back home. And I didn't blame him - Tony actually had a place to call home. Maybe if I did, too, I'd go back just as fast as he wanted to right now._

"I'm sure he can, some way or another," _Shree assured._

_Tony grew quiet. I knew what he was thinking, and he knew what I was thinking. Whatever the reason was, I completely trusted Shree to know what she was doing. Shree wouldn't lie to either of us, and I trusted her to know that. And while Tony still maintained that he didn't trust anyone except Natalya, I knew his mind had changed towards Shree, that he trusted her, maybe if not as much as I did, but enough to help out here. I didn't have to tell him that in so many words - he knew what to do, and I knew what he was going to do._

"I trust you, Shree," _he said slowly._

"I won't break your trust, Tony," _she replied._

"My home is the fifth planet of the third star of _Recemes. _Do you know where that is?"

"No," _Shree said as she straightened, and smiled at both of us. "_But I know someone who does."

-O-

"Eliza, look at this awesomeness."

And try as she might, she couldn't look at it - she was _looking _at it, but she was looking at him _more_. He was pointing at some plants with one hand and running the fingers of his other hand under the letters on the page of the book open on his lap and talking animatedly the entire time, punctuating each sentence with enough _awesome_, but Eliza didn't seem to be able to understand anything beyond the way his eyes flashed and his voice danced and his expressions changed from one degree of happiness to the other.

The truth was that she could listen to him for a lot longer than others gave her credit for. In fact, that was how they'd got to know each other - as soon as Gilbert found out he had an attentive listener in Eliza, all he did was talk about medicine, medicine and more medicine. Eliza knew what he was saying, because her mother was in a hospital for as long as she remembered, and the hospital had become more of a home to her than the shack of an apartment that she lived in.

Her parents were happy people - they truly loved each other, and loved Eliza, their only daughter. But after her mother was diagnosed with middle stage cancer when she was three, their life went slowly from riches to rags, with her father having to sell his belongings one after the other to cure the woman he loved, and to provide the best for the child who meant more than life to him. She was born with a golden spoon in her mouth, and her father was determined to ensure that Eliza never felt want for anything in her life.

Her mother never got better, and her father never gave up hope. As time progressed, however, he had to accept that Eliza needed to see their life for what it was. Unbeknownst to him, Eliza knew long before he had decided to expose her to that side of the world.

The cancer had spread from her breasts to the rest of her body. And when Eliza's mother got to know it was in her brain, she stopped her husband from selling away anything that remained of their possessions. But he was not going to give up, and that was when Johnny Doe came into Eliza's life.

Alfred Jones Sr answered her father's letter by turning up at the door of their apartment one day, and took it on himself to raise Eliza as his own daughter, in the way her father would have wanted to. He offered to pay for the comfort of her mother on her deathbed, but her father had too much pride to ask that of him. A year after Alfred Jones Sr took Eliza under his wing, her mother died. A month later, her father followed.

Johnny Doe had given her everything. He'd given her an education, a job, a way of life...and this wonderful man who sat before her. For all of Gilbert's...grievances in the department of social etiquette, Eliza had known him long enough to know exactly what kind of a man he was, and what exactly she could expect from him. But after they'd set out with Natalya, things weren't the same.

Natalya...the more time she spent with her, the more confused she got as to who was right and who was wrong. Finally, Nat took her to a side and told her, "I do not know what kind of a man he was to you. He was a good man to you, and you can hate me for taking him away from you. He took everything away from me, but that is not why I am here. I am here because I do not want him to take away anything more from anyone else. And after everything that has happened, Eliza, you cannot close your eyes and tell me that what I tell you now is a lie."

And that changed it for her. She knew what Nat said was right. For Eliza, he provided her with everything she'd taken. And for Nat...everyone else seemed to know what she'd lost, and refused to speak about it. Eliza was a curious kind of person, but after seeing Nat's expression whenever anyone mentioned it, Eliza didn't have the heart to ask the girl about it. And Nat was a lot of things, and one of them happened to be a genuinely good person.

But now...she looked up, and saw Gilbert bending over his book, reading something out for her convenience. All she could register was the way his hair fell straight onto his forehead, and how soft it looked. It's not that she wasn't interested, it was just that...she wanted something else now.

Her attention snapped to the present when she heard the book closing, and she focused her attention to what was going on before her. Gilbert had shut the book, and looked at her. "You seem distracted, _frau_. What is it?"

Honestly, it was the gentleness of his tone that got to her. He rarely showed that side of him, but when he did... "I don't know. I was just thinking about a lot of things..."

Gilbert put the book down on the bench, and sat up on the table. "Come here."

"Gilbert, get down! What if" -

"_Frau_, come sit next to me."

"Not on the table!"

"Fine, then. Come lie down next to me."

Eliza felt herself blushing, and Gilbert used the lack of protest to pull her up. Finding herself with no option that didn't draw any more attention to herself, Eliza sat on the bench, and let Gilbert lay her down next to him. The bench was huge - they could accommodate another person on either side of them comfortably.

She watched the leaves dance before her, soothing greens and yellows and browns and oranges, slowly coming together and blending until she vaguely realized her eyes were shutting. Letting them close, she listened to the sound around her - the sound of her breath, the sound of his breath, the sound of the leaves rustling slowly, the sound of birds, the chanting from the temples.

His breathing was slow and even next to her, and the sound of it sent her into a semi-asleep state. Her arms and legs felt heavy, but she could clearly process all the sounds around her with ease.

"Are you tired, _frau_?"

"Not really," she whispered back. "It's been a while since I've indulged my laziness."

He chuckled. The low, throaty sound ran over her skin. "_Frau,_ if nothing else, you are the most hardworking woman I know. Apart from the awesome me, of course."

Eliza snorted. "Of course."

"What were you thinking about?" he whispered.

"I don't know. All sorts of things," she murmured, and turned her head, opening her eyes. "Hey, what do you think makes Nat so sad when they all talk about that particular person?"

Gilbert turned to face her, and she could make out the shards of black and bright red in his eyes. "I don't know. I thought about it some times, but...and I don't feel like asking, either. Her face is so sad whenever..."

"Yes, I know. I feel the same way," she whispered. "And no one really asks her about it. I feel it's better if she tells us about it herself."

"_Ja._ That is better," Gilbert said, and looked into Eliza's eyes keenly. "But that wasn't the only thing on your mind, _fraulein._"

Oh, how well he knew her. "I was thinking about...Johnny Doe."

Sorrow seeped into Gilbert's eyes. "I miss him."

"Yes, I do, too."

"It felt like if he was there, everything would be alright. But, the more I go through this...journey, the more I realize how little I knew. _Fraulein, _as his personal physician, I had never seen the tattoo on his back."

The image of the purple lotus tattoo that they had seen on Johnny Doe's burnt body flashed to her mind. "I had never seen it either. The first time I did see it...It feels so long ago, sometimes, doesn't it."

"Makes me feel old," Gilbert complained. "That is not awesome."

Eliza giggled at the look on Gilbert's face. "I think it's pretty awesome, to grow old. Sometimes, the older you are, the more you know."

"But, still, Eliza, that is not what you were thinking, either."

Eliza frowned. "What do you mean?"

"You were thinking..." he leaned forward, and before she could register, placed a light kiss on her lips, "...about this."

The blush which covered her face like a wildfire signalled her understanding of what had happened. "W-What?"

Gilbert grinned, his eyes narrowing. "The older you are, the more you know," he murmured, throwing back her words right at her. "And the Head Priest, too. I know what you think of him."

"Oh really?" Eliza said, her tongue running over where his lips had met hers.

"_Ja_. And I find it very unawesome, let me tell you."

A sudden pit of fire opened in her stomach, and she felt her sensibilities plunge into a never-ending abyss. "What are you going to do about it?"

"This." And with that, he closed the space between the two of them.

* * *

"The fifth planet of the third star of _Recemes. _What does that tell you?"

Mathias frowned. "Not a lot," he said, "but I have a feeling Braginsky would know."

"Did you send that letter?" Shree asked him.

Mathias grinned at her. "I was waiting for you to figure out where exactly the demon was from."

"And how did you know I'd do it by the time you got around to sending a letter to Braginsky?" Shree asked him, looking at the much taller man under half-drawn eyes.

"I know you, Shree." He place his hand on the wall behind Shree, and leaned before her, until her back was against the wall, and a couple of inches of air between the two of them. "I know you all too well."

"And I you, Mathias," Shree said, her low, throaty laugh only for their ears. But there could possibly be no one else there - they'd met in one of the most secluded portions of the temple campus. "And I know exactly what you're doing here."

Mathias stared at her with such heat in his eyes that Shree could feel something old and deeply buried stirring back to life. "And what's that?"

"Trying to see if I'll take the bait, like I did before," she murmured, leaning forward until their lips were close enough to feel the breath of the other. "I'm not as inexperienced as before, Mathias." Her eyes moved slowly from his lips to his blue eyes. "And I'm not as stupid, either."

"Oh, no, Shree," he murmured. "I always found you to be one of the most intelligent creatures I'd ever laid my eyes on. And one of the most gorgeous, too," he whispered, closing the distance.

Shree turned her head so that Mathias's lips touched her cheek. "More gorgeous than Lukas?"

She felt him stiffen, and inwardly cackled with glee. She leaned back until her back touched the wall, and tilted her head at Mathias. "There are other ways to get someone's attention, Mathias. And that doesn't involve breaking my heart. Or Luke's, for that matter," she said. "You know why Nat detests you, don't you? You hurt everyone closest to her. Me, Luke, Ivan...even him."

"I thought I made amends, Shree," Mathias whispered, his body language changing drastically, enough for Shree to be able to see right through his heart, a broken spirit that had never quite healed. "I really thought I had."

"Well, I forgave you, Ivan did, he did, and...so did Lukas, actually," Shree said. "But, Mathias, Nat will never forgive you for one simple reason."

Mathias' eyes filled with contrite. "I know. And trust me, Shree, I've tried. I" -

"All you have to do, Mathias, is corner him like this and, instead of including so much verbal foreplay, just kiss him until he can't see straight," Shree advised, and straightened. Mathias removed his arm from next to her head, and straightened as well.

"Nat won't forgive you until you make amends with Lukas, not as his superior, but as his lover," Shree said as she walked around him.

"I know, Shree, I know," he said as he walked her out. They walked in silence, Shree looking around, Mathias lost in his own thoughts.

"There he is," he heard her murmur, and looked up to see a figure practicing katas on his own, in the middle of the garden. His blond hair nearly fell over his shoulder, and swung in the air as he turned and pivoted gracefully. His form was fantastic - Mathias could not pick out any mistakes or weaknesses in his movements. His eyes moved to Shree, and something clicked.

"Matthew," he whispered, and Shree looked up at him. "I'll go and relieve him of his training," she said. "Nat told me he's been at it since dawn."

"Woah," Mathias exclaimed. "It's almost afternoon now."

Shree nodded. "See you, Mathias," she said, and turned to leave.

"Hey, Shree?"

She turned back to him. "Yes?"

"Didn't you feel anything...back there?"

Shree grinned. "You idiot. I got over you a long time back."

Mathias feigned hurt. "You could be a little less brutal, Shree."

Shree laughed. "Besides," she said naughtily before rushing off, "blue eyes excite me, and I've found myself the perfect shade of blue."

-O-

"Boo!"

Matt turned around mid punch, and his fist stopped inches off Shree's nose. The intense focus in his eyes dissipated instantly, and he lowered his arm. "Oh my God, Shree, I'm sorry" -

"No, no, don't be. It was stupid of me to spook you like that," Shree said, brushing it off. "So. How long are you planning to punch air here?"

Matt straightened and smiled at her. "I don't know. There wasn't much else to do, and everyone seems busy. I met the pries - Natalya a while ago, but she seemed to want to be alone. Then you were busy with Alfred, and now Mr Køhler" -

"You saw that?" Shree asked, a faint pink coming to her cheeks.

"Before the two of you came out of the alcove or after?" Matt asked, rubbing his face with the towel he'd hung from a low branch.

"You saw," Shree muttered.

"I wasn't supposed to?" Matt asked.

"He was testing me."

"What for?"

"To see if I would...behave the way I would before. He's my...ex, in a way."

"Ohh," Matt said. "Is it something you talk about?"

"No...and yes," Shree said. "No, because almost everyone knows what I and he were doing."

"And what was that?"

"You remember how I told you why Nat didn't like him?"

"Because he made fun of Warrior Houses and how they seemed to view relaxation on rules as something which allowed them to have whatever kind of relationships they liked?"

"Yes, that. The thing was - still is, in fact - that he is in love with Lukas."

Matt's eyes widened. "His Deputy?"

"Yeah," Shree said. "And initially, he used to hang around with me to make him jealous. He told me his intentions, but somewhere along the line, I got carried away," Shree said sheepishly. "And that's when I told Nat about him and me."

Matt sat down on a low branch, and held out his hand to Shree. Her hand tightly clasping his, he pulled her up to the branch next to him. "I don't think she took it well."

"No, she didn't, because she knew for a fact that Lukas loved Mathias. And that's when I sobered up and stopped being naive. I told Mathias that he was hurting everyone around him, and that I didn't want to be a part of it. He was cool with it, or at least outwardly. There was a formal function a week later, and it usually ends with complete relaxation of rules, so we drank and ate food items we usually didn't eat. Mathias drank a bit too much, and...he made that statement. The problem wasn't his statement - the problem was as to whom it was pointed at. It was pointed at me, my brother and a few other close friends of Nat's, who were in love with each other. And, at that time, Lukas was in the House of Snow, a Warrior House, so it was pointed at him, too."

"He shifted Houses because of that?" Mathias asked, shocked. "You can do that?"

"Two years of our five years had passed, so Lukas was allowed to do that. But the problem...actually, it's not a problem, it's a...situation, of some type. The situation is that you can shift from a Warrior House to an Academic House, but not the other way around. He made that declaration, in not too many words, in relation to something else Mathias had said drunkenly, after which Mathias said what he did. And the coat hanger wasn't the only thing Natalya threw at him - she threw an entire table, plus an entire table's worth of items at Mathias. She wasn't as sober as she could have been, too, so it didn't connect as well, but...the coat hanger finally connected. Mathias understood what he'd said an apologized immediately, but...Nat could never forgive him for what he did to Lukas. Not the House changing part - the part where he never made it clear to Lukas how much he actually cared for him. And, I guess he'll only be forgiven after he makes amends, I guess," Shree finished. "That's the whole story. Short version of it, at least."

"Didn't any of you react the way she did, when he said that?"

"We were all tipsy. We figured they were both joking, but Nat was sober enough to know that both of them were serious. When Lukas applied for change of House, that's when we got to know how serious things were."

"And what about him? Do you still like him?"

Shree snorted. "Good Lord, no. I might have had a major crush on him for a while, but I didn't really...it was never serious. But it was enough for me to know that relationships are meant to be taken seriously by those involved in them, and not something that one person cares about and another completely ignores. After that, I either never had the time, or never...went looking," she shrugged. She looked at him. "What about you? Have you ever been that close to someone?"

Matt laughed. "I've never had the time. I met my father around the same time as I hit puberty, and I was busy from the moment he took us in. There have been suitors, but...I wasn't interested, really. It's really boring on my end, but, then again, it usually is."

"I don't think you're boring," Shree said, swinging her legs.

"Really?" he asked her, and suddenly remembered something. "Oh, yeah. I had to give you this," he said, fishing for something in his pocket. Shree heard the clinking of metal, and watched as he pulled out a long chain with a cube at the end. He bunched it into his hand, and put it in hers. "This is for you."

Shree opened her palm, and picked up the cube in the other arm. "Oh, wow," she whispered in awe as she observed the dull yellow cube. "What is...wait, is that a _chandrakala_?" she said, peering through the thumb-sized cube. "Oh my God. How did you" -

Matt smiled pleasantly. "Raj told me that it was one of your favourite flowers, but it didn't grow anywhere except at the _Shankha Mandira_. He said it was one of the things you missed when you left the _Shankha Mandira_, and the first thing you'd go to see when you return. The flowers are rare, and you hated plucking them...While I was searching for blooms on the ground, the most perfect bloom broke off the plant and fell down. So...I decided to preserve it and make it for" -

"Thank you!" Shree said, tears in her eyes, and flung herself at Matt. Both of them lost their balance on the narrow branch and tumbled down, Shree upon Matt. Matt lifted his head, rubbing the bump on his head that was about to become a pain-in-the-neck, but when he saw the way Shree was looking at the flower...he smiled. It was all worth it - including the bump on his head.

"This is beautiful, Matt," Shree whispered in a tone of gratefulness he had never heard from her. "Thank you so much." She put the chain around her neck, still completely unaware of her body over Matt's. She looked at Matt, and Matt could see the black rims of her brown eyes, encircling her irises like an outline. She leaned forward, and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you so much, Matt."

And as she looked from the flower which was a keepsake of her mother, into the blue eyes whose shade she'd come to seek out whenever she entered a room, she agreed with herself on one thing.

Matthew Williams Fitzgerald wasn't boring at all.

* * *

**A/T: You may be able to see where this is going.**

**It's been a hectic week - I've been getting up at 5 in the morning to study, and I've been exercising, so my body is just...it shuts down by 8:30 or 9 in the evening. **

**This chapter is longer than most...it wasn't supposed to be this long, but I wanted scenes which involved two-character-interactions...and Eliza's story just...slipped out, I guess. I realised that the last chapter was boring (if you were looking for action) but if I were to rush the pace any more than I already am, then things...wouldn't really work. I'm surprised I've come to this point in 16 chapters, but...yeah. I can't rush it, so please bear with me.**

**Life is hectic...but I like it a lot better than where I was a couple of months ago. A hell lot more, actually.**

**I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did.**

**Lots of Love,**

**R. K. Iris.**


	17. Realising his power

**A.T.: *Dodges tomatoes and eggs* I can explain. But read the chapter first.**

**Twenty reviews! Oh my freaking cow! THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH! Please keep reviewing and sending all your love my way - it makes me so happy, you can't even imagine.**

**Pinkdoughnuts, THANK YOU SO MUCH, AS ALWAY really look forward to your reactions to what will happen next. **

**emxun, I got your review AFTER I wrote the first couple of scenes, so I guess it's kinda fate that you'll get your dose of amebel first thing in this chapter. Thank you so much for your review!**

**TheEnglishMuffin, welcome back! I'm glad you're still keeping up with the story! And don't worry, there's more of that where that came from. ;)**

**Read, and enjoy!**

**.**

* * *

Dorogoy - Rus - My dear

* * *

**Chapter 17**

_Alfred, the Priestess. Go see her._

Alfred rolled in bed. _What is it, Tony? It's the middle of the night, for God's sake._

_Alfred, go see the Priestess. She is in distress._

Still half asleep, Alfred rolled to the edge of the bed, and planted his feet on the ground. _Distress how?_

_I do not know. But she needs you. Go. Now!_

Alfred rolled upright, eyes wide open at that yell of command. The sleep soon caught up, burning his eyes, drawing them close, and he yawned as he got up, the urgency in his head travelling to his limbs.

What was going on?

-o-

_Every single time._

_It was like this every single time._

_She was in those clothes again. She didn't have to look down to see the torn, blood-stained white shirt, the gashes in her pants, the frayed threads hardened with crimson crust. Her side burned, the bullet wound still fresh, her lungs burned, and she panted. Her mind, however, didn't carry any of the fatigue her body had._

_It was like this every single time._

_Disconnectedly she thought of why she was having this dream again. It was a dream she'd had over and over ever since she got to know, but it had died down, after the two months of therapy with Om. It had to be all the faces of the past. Shree. Om. Raj. Køhler. Lukas. Emil. And now...Braginsky._

_A branch cut through her shirt, just like it had at that time. With a strangulated gasp, she ripped that part of her shirt, and ran ahead._

" Dada!"

_Her chest burnt, but no longer out of physical pain. That pain. It was so real. That pain hurt more than anything ever could. It was as if molten hot lava was slowly coursing through her brain, frying every neuron, hazing every memory in a hue of red until it burned like a blanket of hot coals over her insides. Her heart broke, again and again, even when there wasn't anything left to break. It broke and broke and broke._

"Dada! Come back to me! Dada!"

_She stumbled into the clearing, and with the last gasp, she staggered forward and fell. She watched as the light dimmed and the skies swirled, and felt her breath leave her as she hit the ground. But that feeling left her with no breath left to release. She was already dead. She'd died with him._

_She'd died with Dada._

Dada...Dada...I need you. Dada...Dada!

_Her throat choked, and her breath weakened. Her eyes burned, and she felt them clouding over. Wetness trickled down onto her cheek, and fell onto the ground. She couldn't do anything. She couldn't save him. She couldn't make a fist and beat it to her ground. The pieces fell away,_ tlick...tlick...tlick...tlick..._the pieces of her constraints. Small pieces which broke and fell away, washed down into a dark river of futility. Her life was futile. Without her Dada...she was worse than dead. She was worse than dead._

Dada...come back. Dada...come back to me...I need you...

_One more piece was left. One more piece before she shattered forever into blackness, unable to ever bring herself back together again. And she wanted it. If it was anything like death, she wanted it._

"Alya!"

_The piece remained stuck. Her eyes opened, and flew upwards. The pieces flowed back. His smile. His eyes. He was here. Dada was here._

"Dada!"

_Her voice started as a shout, died in a whisper._ Him. He _was here._

_Johnny Doe._

_Her eyes widened even through the sting of flowing tears, and she tried to get up, to inch forward, to move, but she couldn't. Somewhere she knew she'd screamed out his name a million times, but none of it mattered. The screams died out, and she sobbed his name._ "Dada! Dada!"

"I'll take care of you, Alya. Alwa" -

_Bang!_

_His eyes smiled at her, but there was no life. His lips smiled at her, but blood poured out from between them. And slowly, slowly, just as slowly as his body fell, her mind realized._

"Dada!"

_And the pieces fell away into a vortex of black._

"Dada!"

Her eyes flew open, and the first thing they saw was electric blue. Her heart was racing, her throat hurt, and her eyes were already wet with tears.

Alfred looked at her. Her eyes were wild with fear, brimmed over with sorrow so acute just looking at those eyes made whatever little was left in him die out bit by bit. When he'd come and sat by her bed, he'd thought that Tony just wanted Alfred to miss out on his sleep, but there was no denying the tightening of the bracelet around his wrist. She'd began thrashing around and crying, her lips moving, calling out to someone. The sobs intensified, and finally, she woke up, screaming.

Dada. Alfred recognized the term for father. Was she dreaming about her father?

But he didn't ask her - she had sat up. She was silently crying, trying not to make it apparent, but with each sob that shook her shoulders, Alfred felt hot needles pricking into what remained of his heart. He got up and stood in front of her, watching her watch his movements.

Those eyes of hers, that peculiar shade of blue. Tears didn't belong in such beautiful eyes. Fear didn't belong in such a strong woman. And sorrow...

He quickly pulled her towards him, until her head was resting on his stomach, and wrapped his arms around her. "It's okay, Nat," he soothed. "It's okay to cry, baby. It's okay. Cry all you want, darling. Cry all you want."

He felt her shake, the intensity growing until her body was wracked with sobs. The front of his vest soaked up her tears, and his heart soaked in her sorrow as her voice of pain pierced into him again and again. She clung onto his vest, and Alfred didn't know how long he stood there, cradling this proud woman, seeing into what circumstances had forced her into becoming.

He whispered, talked to her. What he said, he didn't know, but his voice seemed to soothe her. He stroked her soft hair, and stood there. Why he was there, and for how much longer he had to be there, he didn't know. What he could say to make things okay...he doubted anything he said would be able to scratch the surface even.

But, in that moment, he realised he would give her anything she asked for. He would give her everything she could ever ask from him, whether he could give it or not.

If he had to sacrifice his nighttime sleep just to stand her, soaking up her tears and holding her...

So be it.

* * *

"What would be your weapon of choice?"

Everyone looked at Matthew. It was his turn to drive - Nat finally trusted them enough to allow a rotational system come into play, where they took turns to drive. Nat sat in the front with Shree, and behind them sat Gilbert, Eliza and Alfred.

"I would pick...a staff with blades on either end!" Shree said gleefully, and Nat rolled her eyes. Honestly, at times she wondered whether her best friend could express sanity or not.

Oohs of appreciation ran throughout the car. "Is that what you use, Shree?" Eliza asked curiously.

"Well, no," Shree said, making a face. "Most people think I'm not careful with sharp things" -

"Not careful?" Nat snorted. "You nearly took off the instructor's head at the Academy!"

"Oh, please, that was so long ago" -

"You've nicked yourself multiple times with your own blades, and you've poked Raj a couple of times during fights, too," Nat reminded.

Shree turned back and glared at Nat. "Thanks."

Nat shrugged. "I'll stick to my guns and my knives. I know how they work, and they know how I work."

"You're so boring, Nat," Shree dismissed, to which Nat just raised an eyebrow.

"The awesome me would use an awesome battleaxe!" Gilbert yelled excitedly, and yelped when Eliza jabbed him in the side with her elbow.

"Battleaxe is good," Nat murmured appreciatively, and Shree agreed. "What about you, Eliza?"

"I would go with a...huge hammer," Eliza provided. "It'd be really handy, too."

"I know someone who wouldn't think graduating from a pan to a hammer would be funny at all," Matt muttered, and Shree laughed. "Poor Gilbert," she agreed, and looked at Matt. "What about you, Matthew?"

"Umm...I don't think I would wield a weapon, sorry," Matt said slightly sheepishly.

Everyone else in the car groaned, excluding Nat, who just smiled and looked outside the window. "But you asked the question!" Shree protested. "You must have something!"

"Umm...I'd go with...umm...I really don't know...I guess I'd go with a machine gun...?" Matt finished indecisively. "I think I'd go with a machine gun, yeah."

"That so does not suit you," Shree commented. "That's more Alfred's style."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean!" Alfred protested.

"Now, don't get me wrong here," Shree explained, "But machine guns are too...flashy and make a lot of noise. Matt here is more of the...sniper type."

"What about you, Alfred?" Eliza asked. "What would you use?"

Alfred was quiet for a few moments. Then, finally leaning back, he said, "Anything that gets the job done."

"You just don't have an answer," Nat muttered, and Shree seconded her.

"No, no, it's not like that," Alfred said. "You give me a gun, you give me knives, you give me just brass knuckles, or nothing at all - I'll just do whatever it takes to get the job done. That's all."

Shree shrugged, but Nat continued to frown. And slowly, so did Shree. When Matt turned to the two of them to ask for directions, he saw them both concentrating on something. Shree turned to Alfred and asked, "Can Tony feel that?"

The merrymaking at the back paused for the three of them to understand the question. A moment later, Alfred nodded. "Yeah, he feels that."

Shree turned to Nat. "Natalya..."

"There's a lot of them," Nat whispered. "Matt, continue to drive."

"Nat" -

"Shree, it's okay," Nat said, and without turning around, addressed those seated at the back. "Listen up. An enormous energy is coming this way. There are many of them, and there are a few of them which have higher energy than the rest. You stay in the car and stay safe - the car is protected by inscriptions, and it can survive through...demonic nuclear bomb. Shree and I will handle it."

There was silence in the car, but it wasn't one of agreement, it was one of tension. Nat recognized it, and caught Shree's eye. She sighed. "But, if you must, you can use the _perichko_ as target practice."

"_Perichko?_" Alfred asked.

"...Small fry," Shree offered in explanation.

"Stay close to the car if you want to join the fight, and don't do anything stupid," Nat completed.

The tension from the car drained out, and Nat frowned. Some of the energy sources that she sensed were weak enough to be taken out with the basic knowledge of mantras and inscriptions. A few of them, though...

They were getting closer. Nat pulled out her Keshi from the glove compartment. "Alfred. There is a button on the panel above you. Press that, and mind your head."

Akfred pressed the inconspicuous button, the same colour as the rest of the panel, and leaned back as the whizzing and whirring of gears filled the car.

"Matt, eyes on the road," Shree teased when Matt turned around to see the source of the amazed gasps from behind. "Alfred, select out something...appropriate for your brother, hmm?"

"Sure thing, doll," he said absently, and whistled at the array of weaponry in front of him.

The ceiling panel had lowered out in front of them, revealing weapons nestled in the cushioned surface. There were guns and blades, but they were different from anything Eliza, Gilbert or Alfred had ever seen. Sure, they had the rough body of a gun or a sword or a dagger or an axe, but the details...the details where something none of them could have ever imagined before that moment.

The bodies of the weapons were engraved with inscriptions, the grooves in the dull gold, bronze, silver or rust coloured metal filled in with black, dark blue and red liquid, giving a contrast that made the inscription stand out. In the space of a thumb were inscriptions enumerating nearly three mantras, all tiny, all bundled together to resemble an ancient, spiritual pattern.

The body of the guns, the handles of the swords and knives - in themselves, they were pieces of art. Tiny chains ran across the body of the firearms, similar to the Keshi, and the blade of the swords were superbly crafted. Even for Eliza's untrained eye, and for Gilbert's inexperienced eye, the weapons gallery before them held weapons, as deadly as they were gorgeous.

Gilbert's hand went to the axe, and slowly brought it towards himself, his fingers caressing the bumps and grooves of the weapon. Alfred pulled out a rifle - like firearm, and handed it to Shree.

"Good eye, Alfred," Shree complemented, and looked up to see Matt gawking at the rifle.

"That's huge!" Matt exclaimed, dividing his attention between driving and the gun.

"Yeah? That's what she said," Alfred said, and Shree chortled. "Eliza, use your pan," Shree said. "The inscriptions I've carved out on it, it's powerful enough to hold its own against any of the weapons before you."

"Priestess, where did you get a hold of these babies?" Alfred said in awe.

"Some of them she's made," Shree informed. "Some she's collected. She's an excellent weaponsmith and designer, you know."

"Shree...Alfred, close the panel. Press the switch again."

"Where is...ah, here," Alfred muttered as his fingers found the button which was now on the panel surface behind the weapon gallery. He pressed the button, and watched as the panel rose again.

"Are those...sheep?" Matt asked, and all their attention turned to the road before them.

Nat smirked, and Shree laughed, "My dear Matt," Shree said, pointing to the large flock approaching them, "those are demons."

* * *

_Hey, Tony._

What is it, Alfred?

_Do you know those demons?_

No...they are not from my home, or my Realm.

_How can you say, Tony?_

Their energy.

_What does that mean?_

Each person - they have their own unique energy. The subtle difference between each individual's energy is how you distinguish two people. People from the same planet, from the same star, the same galaxy...as they grow further apart, their energy undergoes change. But when they come from different Realms, then their energy changes completely.

_I...I really don't know what you mean._

Imagine our energies to be different colours. As two individuals drift apart in the universe, they take different shades of green. But when you take two individuals from two Realms, it's like looking at green and red.

_Ohh. Okay. So you're green and I'm red._

I just gave you an example, Alfred. And why do you get to be red?

_Because I'm the hero. And which hero wears green? It's retarded._

Well...anyways, you get it. But that's not what you wanted.

_No...it's...not what I wanted. What I wanted is...you could lend me your powers?_

What powers?

_You know, your really kickass powers. The one that...got me locked up in that dungeon for seven years._

Alfred, you do not remember anything of that night.

_No, I don't, Tony._

Why do you think that is?

_...I don't know._

Your body may be able to store my energy, but your brain cannot handle the extra stress of functioning your body through the excess energy, so it shuts down. Which is what happened that night as well.

_Okay, so don't give me all of it at once, then. Give it to me...bit by bit._

Alfred, I don't know how well -

_Tony, please. I can't keep hiding behind her...or behind you, and wake up feeling like a fool, remembering nothing. I just need a little help from you. I can handle the physical part of it. It's just the other part...the...umm..._

Spiritual, Alfred. The spiritual part.

_Yes! That part. Tony. I can't use any of those guns, because they will hurt me - us - as much as they will hurt them. I can't touch any of those weapons. The only time I can use those guns are when I'm in my mind, fighting you. And we stopped fighting a long time ago._

_...Tony, please. Just for a while. If I can't handle it, you can pull back - after giving me a warning. And I'll let the Priestess do all the work._

Oh, no, Alfred. We can't let the Priestess do _all_ the work, now, can we?

* * *

Nat got out of the car, followed by Shree, her eyes on the flock of sheep, and the two teenagers who were managing the herd. Shree tapped the window twice after shutting the door, and smiled slightly when the purr of the engine died. The two of them walked towards the large flock, catching the attention of teenage girl, who alerted the boy by the time they reached there.

"Is that your car, ma'am?" the girl asked timidly.

Nat just raised an eyebrow, but Shree smiled. "That's right. We're on our way to the next town, so if you could please clear out some space for us..."

"But you've stopped your engine," the boy noted.

"We don't like to waste fuel," Shree said with a cheeriness that Nat recognized all too well. "What breed are your sheep?"

That seemed to take the teenagers completely by surprise, while Nat just stood there were a rock hard expression on her face - she knew Shree too well to be taken aback by anything she said while she was in her _mood_.

"We're just the shepherds, ma'am," the boy said. "We just take care of the sheep while they're out."

"Oh," Shree exaggerated her surprise, "So there's an owner?"

"Yes, ma'am," the girl said, and smiled at Shree. "You could ask the owner about them."

"Oh, so he's coming this way?" Shree asked.

"He will, if we don't come back," the boy said.

Nat's hands were around the handles of her Keshi. The signs were all there - the unnatural red irises with no pupils, the perfect features, the disproportionate limbs, their presence...even those sheep were unnaturally perfect. "Then I guess we shall be meeting him." Nat pulled out her gun, and even before she could take aim, the closest sheep jumped up at her.

Nat flipped the gun quickly and jabbed the back of the Keshi right through its chest, sending the sheep flying back in a trail of burnt wool and skin. The form of the sheep violently phased before turning into an indescribable creature that came up to Nat's knees.

"I recognized that coat," the girl said slowly, and Shree grimaced at the sight of the sheep rising to their hind limbs, their forelimbs arching backwards. Their forms phased, and before Nat and Shree were at least two hundred demons in various shapes and sizes, along with two demons whose energy was so powerful Nat and Shree had to stop themselves from grinning in anticipation of a good fight.

Nat heard Eliza step up behind her, and Shree felt Gilbert's presence next to her. "Where are the brothers?" Shree asked.

"Busy. But we came to the party," Eliza said, and Nat had to stop herself from both turning around to see Eliza's face and shuddering at the manic excitement in Eliza's voice.

"And you're just in time, too," Shree said, removing her overcoat to reveal her tunic and slacks, and the _daijin_ strapped to her back. She flung her overcoat to the hood of the car, and within seconds got her staff to her hands. "So let's party."

_Bang!_

Nat shot down the first few unlucky demons who threw themselves at her, effectively creating a path for the rest of them to barge through. Eliza brought out her frying pan, spun around and smashed through demons, while Gilbert hacked his way through with grace that had even Nat and Shree admiring him for a few seconds. Shree's seemingly harmless five foot staff went through the demons like butter, even with no discernible sharp edges, and Nat didn't bother with weapons after the first four shots - she grabbed two daggers, and cut through them like the mutton they'd posed to be.

Nat slashed sideways, and bent down just as Shree's staff wooshed over her head, cutting down three demons who were airborne. Nat straightened as she pivoted around Shree, and took down three more attacking Shree from the back, both of their lips moving, both of their limbs moving to the rhythm of powerful mantras.

Nat dodged, drove her dagger right across the body of one demon; spun around, and staked the next demon right where its heart would have been. The black and red bodies of the smaller demon littered the ground, but only for a short while - the injection of spiritual energy through the priestesses' every blow seemed to dissolve their forms into slushy lumps. And Shree was positively enjoying herself - she waltzed with the grace of a leopard on a hunt, her staff cutting air pathways through the demons. Her staff glowed with the energy of Shree's spiritual energy, and Nat could hear Shree _singing_ the incantations over the unholy screams of the dying demons.

"Hey, Nat! Look at those two!" Shree yelled out, resorting to punching the demon before her as she talked. "They've made this into a game!"

Nat looked up just in time to see Eliza whack a demon into midair, and continued to watch just to see Gilbert slash it into two. Nat sighed as she drove her elbow through the demon trying to sneak up behind her. "I don't know who's crazier - you, or them."

"Well, I am crazy, but" -

"Shree, look out!"

Shree turned to look at a demon, half her size, jumping towards her, a sword in its hand, poised to kill. But before Shree could raise her staff, the demon jerked in midair, and fell to the ground. And by the time Shree turned in the direction of the shot, three more demons around her fell down dead.

She grinned at the sight of Matt flat on the roof, the rifle cradled between his arms and shoulder. "Thanks," she whispered, and gasped.

"Shree, stop slacking!" Nat yelled to her in their common language, and growled in frustration. The larger energies were moving away from them, and she was sure it was those two demons posing as teenagers. If they didn't get through this hoard of madness and get to those two soon, then -

A flash of gold and bright red zoomed through the crowd of demons, and Nat felt the energies vanishing faster than she could comprehend. Her jaw slackened as she watched the blaze of fiery light zip through the demons, cutting their numbers to half in a matter of moments.

_What the hell?_ Nat thought as she watched demons fleeing, the screams of pain turning into the screams of terror. She straightened from her predator-like crouch, and looked at the confusion on Shree's, Gilbert's and Eliza's faces.

"Natalya! Shree! The larger ones are getting away!" Eliza yelled, and they turned to her. "Go! We'll take care of this!"

"Leave a couple of them alive," was all Shree said as the two of them ran.

"Nat" -

"Got it," Nat said, and watched Shree run straight at a tree. But unlike most people, instead of slamming into it, she jumped, and almost impossibly scaled it without using her hands. And with Shree on the canopy, Nat felt them fall into their old routine.

Nat pulled out her Keshi, and stopped as she aimed.

_Need a ride, Priestess?_

Nat's focus shattered at the sound of Alfred's voice in her head. _Huh?_

_I'll take that as a yes._

Nat felt incredible heat sweep her up, and felt the wind screaming in her ears. By the time she turned her head, she felt a sharp jolt, and the wind screeched in her ears again. She looked up, and saw his face.

In the stead of his hair were flames that flashed red and golden, and his face glowed with the pulse of an energy that refused to allow Nat's breath to pass beyond her throat. A thick red stripe ran down his cheek, and a thinner blue one ran down his chin, and red marked his eyelids, like a vivid brushstroke. But when those electric blue irises turned to her...it was him. She knew it was him.

She'd know that blue anywhere.

_Hey, Priestess. You look well._

_'How are you inside my head?'_

_The same way you were in mine. Now, look through my eyes, and take aim._

Her vision suddenly changed. Everything was in slow motion - it was as if the air that they were running through had turned to honey, but somehow it affected everyone except the two of them. Nat drew up her Keshi, and saw the two demons running before her. Only now, they were a lot closer than they had ever been.

_Do you trust me, Nat?_

'Dy.'

_Then take that shot._

Alfred propelled Nat into the air, and she at once felt his energy removed from her. Her vision sharpened, her sense of time heightened, and her Keshi was still pointed at them.

_Bang!_

Nat arched her back as she flew through the air, spinning her body, her entire senses focussed on the source of miasmic energy.

_Bang!_

Nat felt gravity doing its work, and she knew he would catch her before she hit the ground. And the wave of that familiar, incredible energy swamped her, swooped her away back into the air.

_Bang!_

Nat frowned, but before she could question her ears, her feet were firmly planted on the ground, and waves of energy flowed out from behind her. She watched Shree spin through the air, and slice the second demon into two before landing like the cat Nat knew her to be.

_"Wow, doll. You've really got some moves."_

Nat turned to see Alfred - or at least what Alfred had become - standing some distance from her, but even then, the pull of his energy was amazing.

Shree looked at him, and clapped her hands gleefully. "You did it! You and Tony are working together now!"

The merge of voices, with Alfred's voice dominating, emerged from the being standing before her. _"Well, kind of. Tony's lending some of his powers to me."_

But before Nat could even begin to comprehend their conversation, her senses picked up another spiritual energy source, and it hit her like a nasty blow to the nose.

It was familiar. It was way too familiar to be true.

Nat grabbed her Keshi, and flung it at Alfred. He dodged it in a flash, but it hit its intended target and flew sideways - a bullet aimed right at Alfred's brain.

She pulled out her other Keshi, and aimed in the direction of the previous shot.

"What the hell was that?" Alfred yelled at her from behind, but got cut off by Shree. "Shree" -

"Alfred, stay behind," was all Shree said, and the urgency in her tone dampened his flash of anger.

Nat ignored the two of them entirely, her senses attuned to the being near the row of trees to her left. A figure stepped into the clearing, and Nat felt her eyes fooling her.

That cream overcoat. That white scarf. The silver blond hair, tending more to silver than blond. Those gorgeous purple eyes opening into abysses darker than black. And that smile. That cold, cold smile, worse than the deadening chill of winter.

"I never imagined I would see you here, _dorogoy_."

Nat's energy drained right out of her, through the soles of her feet, filling in their wake heavy, heavy lead. Her arms dropped, and all she could see was those violet eyes staring right into her soul. They could always stare right into her soul, bare it for all it was. Absently, she chided herself for having this reaction after all these years, but...after all these years, nothing had changed.

"Ivan," she breathed, the name rushing out of her like a dying man's prayer.

After all these years, nothing had changed.

* * *

**A.T.: Okay, to be completely honest with you, it was a culmination of things. **

**First off, I'd like to say that every time I thank someone for reviewing, I really mean it. There might be people who write the story for the sake of the story, and I was that person for a really long time. But once I got the taste of people reading my stuff and knowing that people enjoy it, and it helps some people get through the day...honestly, there was no going back. So when I write the story, it's 45% for the story's sake, 45% for my sake, and 10% for the reviews' sake. If that makes me human or selfish or requiring some kind of returns for what I write and put up, then yes, I am all those things, and whatever else you accuse me of.**

**A part of me does write for reviews. I like to know that what I write makes someone's day, or it helps someone through a bad moment, or it just made them happy. And I'll thank Pinkdoughnuts here again, for reviewing EVERY single chapter on this EVERY time it comes out. And one of the reasons I didn't put out a chapter last week was because I had no way of knowing whether someone actually liked what they were reading or not. And in the middle of my decision to even write this chapter, I got emxun's and TheEnglishMuffin's reviews, which really made me happy, but I couldn't post a chapter because I was in hostel and I post chapters usually when I'm at home with a reliable WiFi connection.**

**This isn't me asking you to review. It's just me ranting to you, and I don't expect people to review off the bat. There's a reason I keep this section at the end of the chapter, so that you can skip it or just close the tab whenever you feel like it.**

**The second thing is me being exhausted at the end of each day. Plus, because of my periods, I've been experiencing PMS in the form of depressing thoughts, and that hasn't been helping at all.**

**The third thing is me watching Castle and playing the Deadpool game on my PC. I hit this hard spot in the game where there are two bosses than one, so I'll tackle that when I have more time, but as of the last two weeks, I only had enough energy to watch Castle. This semester is a hell lot more fun, but it's really exhausting, so I'll just tell you that although I try to do my best to give my 100% in my investments, sometimes I...just give up. And I'm sorry to anyone depending on me during such a time, but...I'm sorry. I need to drop all the stuff I'm juggling once in a while to just...breathe. **

**I love this chapter. I really love this chapter, because things are picking up, at least with RoJD. So please continue to keep supporting it, hopefully till the very end.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

**Love,**

**R. K. Iris.**


	18. Two Demons, One Dojo

**A/N: As promised, I've reuploaded this chapter. Those who've already gone through the chapter and don't want to read it all over again can scroll down halfway through the chapter before finding where I'd cut off before, and the rest of you can just...enjoy the whole chapter. Yay!**

**I'll be uploading the next chapter by Sunday - one last part left, and I'll be taking out my sexual frustrations in that, so all of you can have your inner perverts appeased. So, please be patient until then.**

**I didn't expect it, but thank you so much, pinkdoughnuts and TheEnglishMuffin for reviewing! I thought you guys would review after the whole thing came out, so your reviews totally caught me by surprise!**

**Pinkdoughnuts, I know, right? Plus, any BelRus fans can be happy to see a bit of that kind of action in an AmeBel fic. So glad you liked it.**

**TheEnglishMuffin - Darling, I love your reviews! Thank you so much - I live on sexual tension (ehehehehe). Ivan is a crazy bastard, but you'll come to realise _why _he's as crazy a bastard as he is later. And go ahead - RoJD is somewhat a nickname for the fanfic - I've always believed that as you write a story, it gets a life of its own, and you just write it as it comes to you after a point. And at the end of it, it becomes its own person, and you realise you haven't just created a story, you've created something that has brought lives together. (the rest of what I want to say is at the end of the chapter, so that I don't keep you from finishing the chapter.)**

**Enjoy, all of y'all, and keep leaving reviews!**

* * *

Dorogoy - Rus - My dear

Spasibo - Rus - Sorry

Bessobaka - Partly Russian, partly created - demon dog

Ledi - Rus - Lady

Zadnista - Rus - Ass

* * *

**Chapter 18**

"What I really want to know is why you are protecting that demon."

Natalya stared down at Ivan, the barrels of their guns pointed at each other. "Because he's with us."

"I thought you gave up on running around with demons."

_"Who the hell is this guy?"_ Alfred roared, and it was a sound enough to drop everyone's blood pressure for a few seconds. _"Natalya,_ move."

"Why?"

_"If it's me he's after, then I'm not going to disappoint him."_

"Alfred, this is much more dangerous than you - Alfred!" Nat yelled out as she saw the flash of yellow charging at Ivan.

But where the rest of them couldn't see Alfred, Ivan's experience told him exactly where he was. Ivan grabbed hold of Alfred's flying fist, then the other, and the sheer physical power in restraining Alfred sent the dust around them flying in waves. To Alfred's shock, Ivan wasn't burnt at all by his body heat, but Tony seemed to know what was going on.

_This man...Alfred, he is not normal._

_I know, bro, I know. He's not like those other demons, or even like any of the priests I've seen._

_I shall lend you some more power. Control it._

Alfred felt a sudden surge of energy, and he pushed against Ivan's vice-like grip. With a growl, he jumped up and twisted, throwing Ivan off balance. As he fell, he spun, his legs turning into deadly weapons cutting through the air.

Ivan dodged, knowing that if that kick connected with his neck, his spine would break instantly. Alfred didn't waste any time - as soon as he landed, he sprung upon Ivan, kicking and punching, or at least trying to leave a hit. He didn't know how, but Ivan was able to keep track of his movements. His limbs were strong enough to black his blows, and fast enough to have Alfred dodge his attacks.

For all his bulky clothes, Ivan was surprisingly agile, and no matter from where Alfred attacked - midair, from the front or from the back, Ivan responded every time.

_Bang! Bang! Bang!_

Alfred jumped back a couple of feet and watched Ivan dodge the bullets. Alfred turned to see Nat's car speeding towards them, with someone on the roof.

"M-Matt?" Alfred squeaked, an odd sound because of the merging and overlapping voices that squeaked along with him.

"Ivan, stop!" Shree yelled out, but Ivan's blood had started to boil, and he wanted the fight that was coming to him.

"Eliza, grab this," Matt said, shoving his rifle into her hand. Ignoring her general surprise, he ran off the roof of the car and jumped right at the edge, flying through the air.

Ivan watched the man land nimbly and run towards him, and he felt like he was being charged at by a bull elephant. Dimly, the memory of Mathias Køhler's letter came to mind. Matthew Willams Fitzgerald and Alfred Jones Fitzgerald. Sons of Alfred Fitzgerald Jones Sr; built like warriors. And he was anticipating their fight since he had gone through Køhler's letter.

It had been a long time since he'd had to face a challenge like this.

Ivan deflected Matt's kick - there was no way he could stop so much force unless it was with his full body weight. His senses flashed and picked up Alfred, who was charging from behind him. He sidestepped, grabbed Alfred by the face and threw him at his brother.

Alfred caught his balance and caught his breath as he stood next to Matt. _"What...the...hell?"_ he gasped. _"This guy isn't normal. Even Tony's freaking out."_

_I am not freaking out._

_Oh, shut up._

"This guy is extremely strong, but he's not putting his entire strength into it," Matt said.

_"You got that...from just one kick?"_

"Pretty much."

_"I've been feeling the same way,"_ Alfred said, and felt some more of Tony's energy seeping in. _"Let's draw it out, make him swe" -_

"Enough!"

All three of their focusses snapped at the sound of Shree and Nat's combined yell, and fear took over their hearts as the two priestesses stormed over.

"Uh oh," the two brothers heard Ivan say, and they readily seconded him there.

"What do you all think of yourselves!" Shree yelled at the three of them. "Ivan, come here!"

"Shree, _dorogoy_" -

"Don't you dare '_dorogoy_' me, Ivan Braginsky! Having fun is one thing, going all out is another!" Shree yelled at him. "And you two!"

Alfred and Matt gulped audibly.

"Alfred, did the amount of Tony's energy you are carrying fry your brains? Or your common sense? Taking in so much energy is fatal! Fa-tal! It means you could die!"

Alfred knew what fatal meant, but he didn't think Shree needed to know that.

"And you!" she spun on Matt. "What was that all about? You're supposed to be the sane one! Instead, you jump right in" -

"If someone goes at my brother, I will not stand and wait for them to land the first punch."

That stopped Shree right in her tracks.

"Well said, comrade, well said," Ivan said. "I have never seen _dorogoy_ stop in the middle of her...talk like" -

"You stay out of this," was all Matt said, and effectively shut Ivan up as well. "And who the hell are you, anyways? You just barge in here, start shooting at my brother" -

"Mattie. Calm down."

He felt his brother's hand on his shoulder, back to its normal temperature. He turned to see Alfred turned back to normal, and gritted his teeth. "He tried to kill you! Don't tell me you're okay with this!" Matt yelled at Alfred.

"Chill, broski. He couldn't kill me even if he wanted to."

"I beg to differ," Ivan said coldly.

"Enough," Nat said quietly, but it was enough to stop both Alfred and Ivan from having another go at killing each other.

"That was a very mean thing to do, Ivan," Nat said, turning to Ivan. "They are my comrades, and I will not have you threaten them in any way."_ Am I clear?_

The last part was loud and clear to everyone present in that field. Ivan reached forward and clasped Nat's hand. "_Spasibo_, _dorogoy_. I was just trying to have a little fun."

"It is not...please apologise to my companions," Nat said, switching to her Native tongue, one which she shared with Ivan. "I would have agreed to it before, but this is not acceptable."

"I agree," Ivan said in his native tongue, and turned to them. "I sincerely apologise to all of you. My curiosity was ignited by my comrade Køhler's praise of you all, and I wished to see your strengths for myself," he said. "I am Ivan Braginsky, Head Priest of the House of Flame. And while I cannot entertain you at my home in Rusya, I invite you to a temple of our order, to allow me to extend my hospitality and my services" -

"Does that include killing the guests?" Alfred quipped, and Nat glared at him.

"If he is _besobaka_ and might kill my comrades, then yes," Ivan said, his smile as cold as his eyes.

"I understood that, buddy," Alfred said, his eyes hardening with an emotion Nat had seen on the first day she had met him, "And I'm willing to take you up on that. Thing is, you'll be the only one dying" -

"Okay, okay," Shree said, making the time-out sign. "Ivan took it too far, and he's sorry. Now, can we put it behind us?" She turned to Ivan. "Honestly. Don't do that again."

"I promise, I promise," he said. "Now, I shall guess. You are Matthew, and you are Alfred," Ivan said, and turned to Eliza and Gilbert, who were standing by Shree. "You are Eliza and Gilbert. And might I say, _Ledi_ Eliza, you are much more beautiful than Køhler could describe you."

Eliza blushed, and Gilbert found himself liking the man before him lesser and lesser.

"But, for the sake of my men, _dorogoy_, I must ask again" -

"What are you getting at, Braginsky?" Alfred growled.

"Dy - what are you implying?" Nat said, looking at Ivan strangely.

"I'm just looking out for my people" -

"No, you're being obtuse, Ivan," Shree retorted. "Why would Alfred" -

"Like I said, the only one I would readily hurt is you, Braginsky," Alfred said coldly. "If that's what you want."

"I'm sure, comrade, I'm sure," Ivan replied knowingly. "But as much as I would enjoy a good fight, the others around us wouldn't enjoy it as much. So, some other time, then, when no one's looking."

Alfred smiled, but his rage was set in his stone-like expression. "I'll hold you to that."

"Can we go now?" Eliza asked Shree quietly.

"I don't think I want to," Gilbert whispered, overhearing Eliza.

"Natalya, do you know the way to the temple?" Ivan asked in his native tongue.

Nat replied, and the rest of them watched as they talked to each other. And when Ivan cupped her face and kissed her forehead, Alfred felt the bullet that Ivan had meant for him earlier go through his chest.

He charged forward, but Shree's grip at him arm stopped him. "Shree" -

"Alfred, not now," Shree whispered softly. "If you go at him now, Tony won't be able to help you."

"What?" Alfred gasped, shocked. "Of course Tony will" -

"If his power is transferred to you now, your body will start to burn," Shree said. "It's difficult for me to touch you - your skin is burning like you have high fever."

Her words snapped him out of it, and he felt Shree's fingers cold on his skin, as if she was holding ice cubes at the tips of her fingers.

"I'll explain it to you, I promise," Shree said. "Right now, get in the car before you faint."

Alfred understood what she was talking about as she walked him to the car - he felt severely dehydrated, and he wasn't able to concentrate. And Tony...he couldn't feel Tony's presence in his head.

"Shree...I can't feel Tony..."

"Relax. He's exhausted. He's probably gone to sleep. He's usually awake in your head, but times like this demand rest. You, too. You need to rest."

Shree got him into the backseat of the car, and followed him in. She pulled out a water bottle from the carrier, and poured the contents over his face and arms.

Alfred felt fatigue creeping in, growing by the minute. He faintly felt the water sizzling off his skin...It felt so good...She emptied other water bottle, and his skin was cool enough to let the water slide over his skin in liquid form. He felt her fingers over his lips and chin, and complied to their prying by opening his mouth.

As soon as the water hit his tongue, he began swallowing greedily. His throat was parched, his lungs and stomach were burning. The flow of water trickled to a stop, and resumed after a few minutes. He drank, and water trickled down the side of his chin and mouth. Feeling his insides cool down, he clutched her hand, and drew it down. Slowly, he opened his eyes, waiting for the water to cool him down completely.

Honestly, Shree was gorgeous. Her irises were brown, and were encircled by a ring of black. Her nose was slightly crooked, like it was broken, her eyes were beautifully formed, and her lips were full and rogue, even though she didn't paint them. The left part of her head had cropped hair, as if it had been shaved some time back, but the hair on the top of her head, the back and the right side of her head was thick and black, flowing over her shoulder and twisting into a braid. And her skin...it was dark, but, somehow, it made her more beautiful than she already was.

"Alfred...what is it?"

"Did...did Mattie get around to telling you how gorgeous you are?" Alfred whispered, and smiled at Shree's furious blush. She was so cute when she blushed. When she said nothing, he grinned tiredly. "I'm...sure he'll get...around to it. But...I'm glad I'm the first."

Shree hit him on his arm, and sat down next to hit, her face turned away. Alfred chuckled slowly, and looked out the window.

A few minutes later, Matt opened the back door, and sat down next to Shree. Gilbert and Eliza went to the front, and sat at the capacious shotgun seat, which could accommodate two people comfortably. Nat slipped into the driver's seat a few minutes after them.

"Where is Ivan?"

"He's gone back to the temple, probably the same way he came," Nat answered Shree. "We're going there now."

And as the car started, the last thing Alfred felt was Shree's shoulder under his head before he fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

"How many idols have you installed till now?" Ivan asked in the language they had learnt and spoken at the Academy. Opposite him sat Nat and Shree - the rest of them were in their room, fast asleep.

"Three, till now," Nat said. "And we need to hurry, before the number and capability of the demons increase."

"Six more left," Ivan mused. "You don't have much more time left. But if Om has personally scribed the nanogram for you, then there's no need for me to look into that. But then there's that demon" -

"Ivan," Shree warned.

"Friend of yours, the demon?" Ivan asked. "I am not talking about your comrade Alfred. I'm talking about the demon in him. Does he or she have a name?"

"Alfred named him Tony, and he responds to it" -

"So his name is similar to Tony," Ivan said. "But there's something wrong here."

"Like what?" Nat asked.

"How his demon friend is expressing himself," Ivan said. "Shree, you have been helping in building Alfred's spiritual energy, haven't you?"

"Yes...but what" -

"His spiritual energy is tainted with a strange hue. It is of neither this Realm or of the demon friend's Realm. It is a mixture of both. And all three of us know that is dangerous."

Nat and Shree knew exactly how dangerous, and all they could do in response was look at him with their jaws dropped for a long time. Ivan sighed. "The reason you didn't pick it up is because you are familiarised to his energy, so much so that it seems normal to you." Ivan remained silent for a while, and both the priestesses recognized that silence.

"Alfred Jones Sr. Where did you find him?" Ivan asked.

"Fitzgerald. Why?" Nat asked, frowning.

"Do you now know why the priests at your sister temple did not recognise the warning signs of his association with the demon?"

Nat's frown deepened. "But...that's not possible..."

"She's right, Ivan," Shree said. "He doesn't know the rituals involved in making a demon contract."

Ivan frowned, and looked at the two of them. "Maybe he doesn't have to. But..."

"But?" Nat asked, not liking that tone a little bit.

"There's only one way to find out."

* * *

"Seriously? Are you a sucker for punishment?"

"Ivan! I thought we were clear on this!" Shree confronted Ivan.

Ivan dismissed her words. "You can say that, comrade Alfred. Now, fight me."

"Ivan, don't do this" -

"Natalya" -

"I'm not going to fight you," Alfred said.

"What if I hurt your brother?"

"You can't lay a finger on my brother without breaking five of your own."

Ivan frowned, then nodded. "Fair enough. But I need you to fight me."

"Since you're being so nice and all...I have to say no."

"What if I attack Shree? You are close to her," Ivan asked.

Alfred just grinned. "I might call her Doll, but she'd chop your balls off before you got to attacking her."

Shree, who'd been yelling at Ivan, turned to Alfred and smiled. "Thank you, Alfred."

"Hmm," was all Ivan said. "So you won't fight me."

"No. Now can I go back to sleep? I'm tired," Alfred said, and turned around to leave.

"Comrade Alfred, wait."

"What is" - and Alfred's jaw dropped.

Ivan's mouth was over Natalya's, her body pressed close and hard against his. His eyes were closed; her eyes were opened wide with shock. Her hands were flailing; his palms cupped her face, turning it to deepen the kiss. And when he opened his eyes slightly and looked at Alfred, that was the last straw.

A suffocating rage engulfed Alfred, and he felt himself shaking. And then...

It all went black.

Ivan pushed Nat away and dropped to the ground - he heard Alfred swish above him. He pivoted, got up and jumped back just in time to escape Alfred clawing his face out. Ivan moved back, but not fast enough - Alfred's deadly grip ripped the scarf right off his neck, tore gashes into his overcoat. His razor like fingers passed centimeters off his face, and Ivan could feel the air before his nose being ripped into two.

Ivan bent low, and drove his head into Alfred's stomach, pushing him backwards. With his superhuman strength, he picked up Alfred and threw him to the other end of the dojo. He straightened, watched as Alfred crashed into the wall, and ran a hand over the scars on his neck, scars that hid his true nature to the world. Determining that Alfred was going to catch his breath, he looked at the rest of them.

They were shocked, to say the least. Matt was on his knees, watching his brother transformed with his jaw dropped. Gilbert and Eliza were looking on with a horrified expression, huddled next to each other, and Shree stood next to Nat, trying to draw her back, the effort halfhearted as she expended her energy trying to realise what was going on.

And Nat...One look at her face helped him realise she knew exactly what was going on, but she didn't want to believe it.

"Natalya!"

She snapped out of her shock, and looked at Ivan.

"Was Johnny Doe's energy like this?"

She didn't have to nod - he could see it in her eyes.

Ivan looked back to Alfred. The aura that had been surrounding him when he'd seen him for the first time had been a blue-orange. Now, it was a miasmic red. His fingers was marked with stripes and smudges of red, brown and black; they did not have the clean, distinguishable look that the markings he had seen before on the same man had had. His hair had grown longer, and was no longer sunshine golden - it was black. And when Ivan's gaze met his, he found himself looking into complete, pitch black orbits, abysses of the dead on the face of the living.

"He is no longer controlling the demon's energy," Ivan said out loud, for the benefit of those afraid. "He is no longer in control of his actions. The demon's energy has consumed him. He will not recognise any of you now. Do not get in his way." Ivan removed his overcoat, and felt the fear emanating from Shree and Nat.

"Ivan, don't" -

"It is the only way to stop him, my dear," Ivan said in their common tongue, handing over his overcoat to Shree. "Besides, if things get out of hand, both you and Natalya are here to take care of it." He looked at Nat, who now stared at Ivan as if he was a monster.

The thought made him chuckle. Once his scarf and overcoat had been removed...he was a monster.

But, unlike other monsters, he could control his powers.

_What...the...hell?_

Nat couldn't believe herself. She couldn't believe her senses. But all the evidence, all the events pointed to what she was seeing in front of her.

She had assumed that Johnny Doe was the reason for the disturbance in the cosmic balance, for the spiritual fluctuations. And she had been right, back then. But now, as she watched...

Alfred, too, was the reason for the spiritual imbalance of the Universe.

He threw back his head and roared, the voices of Heaven and Hell emerging from his throat in one heartstopping cry of rage. His aura was red, tinted with black, and Nat could see the telltale signs.

If he didn't stop and get out of his current form, he would not only burn his physical body, but he would lose the identity of his mind to the demon.

Nat's senses turned to Ivan. Tattoos encircled his neck, but they didn't hide the gashes in his skin - gashes that, people whispered, had been formed from the jaws of the Devil. He never removed his overcoat or his scarf, but without his overcoat, there was a black vest which left his arms bare, and grey pants which were held up by specially crafted energy sensing linen bandages.

His arms were bare, but there was no skin to be seen - his arms were heavily tattooed, continuing from his neck over his shoulders right down to his wrists. A stead lilac glow thrummed over Ivan's body, the tips of his hair floating in the air in beat to the thrum;. And the look on his face told Nat exactly what he was about to do.

"W-What is that? On his arms?" Matt asked, coming and standing next to Nat.

Shree had enough of her wits about her to answer his question. "Those are inscriptions in pictorial form. Where we have to chant mantras to pull out our spiritual energy, he had to channel his spiritual energy through a particular part of his arm to achieve the same effect as out mantras."

"Isn't that...difficult? Channelling your energy like that?"

Shree chuckled mirthlessly. "It's nearly impossible. The only humans alive to be able to do that are Ivan's predecessor, Ivan's Deputy and Ivan. The three of them are the only ones to be able to practice this technique without killing themselves."

"Is he going to be able to stop Alfred?" Matt whispered, afraid of either answer.

"Yes. But...we don't know whether we can stop Ivan after he stops Alfred," Shree said.

Matt paled. "Why?"

Nat whispered out her worst fears. "Because he's going to summon the Devil."

A low growl turned their attention to Ivan. Parts of the tattoos on his arms began to glow, and his eyes took on a strange yellow luminescence. Flashes of black and lilac began streaking through his silver-white hair, and his purple irises turned gold. His skin turned a ghostly white, and the skin and flesh began falling off the right side of his face. But instead of showing blood or bone, an abyss opened up in the right side of his face - an abyss that seemed to lead right to the centre of the Universe. And when Ivan showed his teeth in a grin, his sharp canines seemed to glint evilly.

Ivan opened his mouth, and the constant low growl emanating from him increased in decibel. With that greeting, he charged at Alfred.

Nat, Shree and Matt's eyes were not fast enough to keep up with the two demons - all they could see were flashes of lilac and red across the room, and when the two demons crashed, they felt the force as if _they_ were the ones being hit. Every blow caused the mirror lined walls to shake, and stopped the heart of all those watching.

Ivan grabbed Alfred's fist in his mouth, and yanked him closer. Alfred's other hand clutched at Ivan's face, and pumped energy in one burst, frying Ivan's face. Ivan let go on Alfred's fist and fell back. Alfred took the chance, and charged at Ivan.

_'Enough.'_

Ivan opened his eyes, grabbed on of Alfred's arms and spun him around. Ignoring Alfred's cry of surprise, he grabbed the other arm, and drove his knee into the base of Alfred's spine.

Alfred roared out in pain; Ivan thrust Alfred into the ground face-first from midair.

Regretting the short time he had in his demonic form, Ivan sighed as his held Alfred pinned to the ground. But...that was one of the best fights he'd had in a very, very long time.

He directed his spiritual energy through his arms, and felt the inscriptions pick up on the energy. The inscriptions performed their action - the demonic energy within both Ivan and Alfred dissipated bit by bit. Ivan looked around, one part of his mind on Alfred's reduced struggling, the other part of his mind observing the damage made by their demonic energy.

He congratulated himself for having the fight in the Dojo - any other part of the temple, and the place would have been reduced to a rubble. Below him, Alfred was coming two. Ivan grabbed the neck of Alfred's vest, and took a moment to catch his breath. He was tired - it was a long time since he'd expended so much energy in such a short while. It was exhausting, honestly. Absently, he wondered if he was truly growing old.

"Get off me, asshole!"

His musings were cut short by Alfred snapping at him, and he remembered as to why he was straddling Alfred's back.

In a minute, comrade," Ivan said, tightening his grip.

Alfred began to buck under him, and Ivan had to appreciate his sheer physical strength. In one swipe, he tore his vest right off his back.

"I'm not interested in your asshole, bastard," Alfred rasped.

Ivan just raised an eyebrow. "Even though I'm the one on top?"

"Not for long." And Alfred bucked violently, throwing Ivan right off him. And along with Ivan, his ripped vest fell off him as well.

Ivan leaped to his feet, and looked at Alfred with an almost cruel smile. "But I would be interested in your _zadnista_, comrade - if I ever swung that way."

Alfred couldn't suppress a shudder, but his eye caught the look of total shock in the faces of his four companions. "What?" he asked them.

"Do you...remember anything?" Matt asked.

"No. I must've fainted, and when I came to, that pervert was sitting on my back, ripping my clothes off." And Alfred's face fell at the thought of what might have happened before he came to. "Did I...did I hurt someone?"

None of them answered, but their eyes said that he hadn't hurt anyone...except that perverted priest. Which was good.

"Alfred..." Eliza stammered. "Your...back..."

Alfred frowned, and tired to feel his back with his fingers. His fingertips passed over bumps and ridges, after which the skin felt unnatural.

"Hey, pervert," Alfred snapped. "What did you do to my back?"

"Nothing, comrade," Ivan said easily. "But if you look through this mirror, you'll see your back in the opposite one," he said, pointing the mirrored wall opposite Alfred.

Alfred frowned and looked in the direction Ivan was pointing in. And what he saw... "What the hell is that?" he whispered, staggering to the wall before him. He turned his back to the mirror and looked over his shoulder to see the reflection of his back.

There was an outline made of red, ridged skin, and within the outline were patches of purple at places, and patches of green at others. Within the outline where he could see his natural skin, there were markings in black. Alfred recognised the markings to be the alphabet of the language that marked the holy weapons or books that the priestesses carried. He'd seen the same letters all over the other temples he'd been to as well - on the walls, on the metal, in the wood. It was from the same language.

But even those markings were incomplete - Alfred knew, because he'd observed that sentences in this language ended with a straight line, like 'l' or double lines, like 'll' - it was similar to the full stop in his language. The markings on his back ended without the lines, and started at random from elsewhere. And upon observing the outline closely, it was...

"It's a lotus," Alfred said, and turned to the six people standing before him. "It's a lotus...But what does it mean?"

Matt and Gilbert looked confused. Eliza looked thoughtful, like she was trying to place where she'd seen something like that before. Natalya looked horrified, and Shree and Ivan were the only two people whose faces showed understanding; in Shree's eyes, there was an additional emotion - sympathy.

"Shree. What is it?" Alfred asked. Somewhere in his gut he knew he didn't want the answers.

Shree opened her mouth to start speaking, then released her breath in a shuddering sigh. "It's the beginning of a contract seal, Alfred."

"What kind of a contract seal?"

"The one you make with a demon," Ivan said plainly, with none of his previous malice or condensation.

"But I never" -

"Alfred."

He stopped short at Natalya's voice, and looked at her.

"That seal..."

"What about it? Tell me!" Alfred yelled, frustrated, and more than a little scared. He did not like where this was going at all. If Nat was scared...

Nat took a deep breath, and looked at Alfred right in the eye. "Alfred, it is a contract seal between the demon within you and its host."

"That means..."

"The demon is making a contract with you, the same one it had made with your father."

* * *

**A.T: Well, in my universe, Ivan's tattoos explain why he wears that scarf and overcoat of his all the freaking time. That, and an additional reason you'll get to know in the following chapters.**

**Like I said, I'll be uploading the next chapter this Sunday, so it comes within the week itself, and you don't have to wait for too long.**

**We played holi this week, and my roomie's come home with me...we're leaving tomorrow. Also, another crazy thing - I'm sexually attracted to (and active with) my best friend in this dream I had, and when I woke up, I was horrified to find myself not horrified but sexually frustrated. Like I actually want it to happen. But I don't. Because it means complications. And I don't want none of that. If he's reading this (that means he'd gotten over his extremely huge backlog of the previous chapters and has come this far) he's going to know I'm talking about him, but he's going to deny it, and he's going to be like, "Who's she talking about...no, wait, what the fuck!?" Then I'm going to get a call to explain myself, and I only have one explanation - I'm ovulating, and I'm high on hormones. So don't think anything about it. **

**I don't know why I typed that out, but I'm going to put it out on the internet, and I'm going to hate myself for it later, but I've only got one thing to say to my facepalming future self - I'm horny, and I'm sorry.**

**You don't have to read this if you don't want to - I get weird most of the times.**

**Hope you enjoyed it!**

**Love,**

**R. K. Iris.**

**Continuing my conversation with TheEnglishMuffin:**

**Well, the reason the Fitzgerald brothers can't beat Ivan is because Ivan's been trained in chanelling his energy, whereas Matt and Alfred have just made their entrance into a world Ivan had a very long time to master, and mastered it he has. And Ivan's going to keep throwing googlies (it's a cricket term) like that for a while (ehehehehe).**

**Well, that's the thing. The reason why I paused it for a really long time until Chapter 11 was because I was dealing with a lot of things that put my writing to a backseat. But writing is my creative outlet - it's like how breathing is a physical outlet. And if I don't exercise my creativity, it comes back to bite me in the form of negative and self-depreciating thoughts (I'm very prone to those). So RoJD, and my writing in general, is a way to keep my mind from entertaining negative thoughts in its free time, and saturating it with thoughts about the story whenever I find myself short of things to think about. And when I know there are people enjoying what I write, it's that much more of a pleasure to write for people. Yeah, self satisfaction is important, but we as a species don't live for ourselves - we live for each other.**

***internet high five*!**

**And you're an amazing person - your reviews make me so bloody happy, I can't even explain it to you. Please keep reviewing - it gives me this amazing feeling in my stomach *insert favourite inconspicuous love song melody here*. **

**I'll update as soon as I can! Lots of love to you, darling!**


	19. Explanations

**A.T.: This chapter is short, too, but it's complete. I wrote the entire chapter down in three sittings, and it took up twenty pages of my book, _and_ I'm very happy with it, considering the loops I had to jump through to get it to come together.**

**Thank you for your reviews - Guest, TheEnglishMuffin and Skye! My replies to reviews I'll be putting it at the end of the chapter, so do make sure to check it out!**

**The fourth part of this chapter I wrote to Shakira's 'Can't remember to forget you' ft Rihanna, playing on repeat. It wasn't the perfect song, but it got my mood going. If you feel it accurate, play the song from when you start reading that part until you finish, or play it when you get to the part when Natalya surprises you (ehehehehe). Anyways, that's one special mention I wanted to make.**

**People, leave reviews! They make me happy!**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

Moda - - Mind, Conscious

Da - Rus - Yes

Práklon - Bel - Dammit

Net - Bel - No

* * *

**Chapter 19**

Natalya swung over the ledge, and got her footing. With a grunt, she pushed herself up, and walked till she reached the other edge of the roof. She sat down, watched the sun setting before her, beyond the vast expanse of green and brown landscape.

She pulled her knees up, wrapping her arms around her legs. And burying her head in between her legs, she began to cry

* * *

"So, what exactly are you saying, Matthew asked. Next to him sat Alfred, but Alfred had lost all capacity to talk; all he seemed to be able to do now was listen.

Ivan sighed, and looked at Shree. "It would be a lot easier to explain if she was here" -

"Leave it, Ivan," Shree said irritatedly. "I might not be as involved in this as she is, but this is upsetting, to say the least."

"I agree," Ivan said, and turned to Matt. "Comrade, your father made a contract with your demon friend. For your brother's sake, I shall call him Tony. When your father died, Natalya discovered the demon's contract seal on your father's back. There are some conditions to be fulfilled before the demon can be released. But because all those conditions weren't fulfilled, Tony resides bound to your father's _moda_. And this is what found its way into your brother's body, and" -

Matt held up a hand. "You're telling me what I know," Matt said.

"What I saw now on will not make sense to you, unless I remind you of all this. Patience, comrade," Ivan said soothingly. "This happening - a demon bound to a _moda_ \- is in itself a first ever occurance. Theoretically it is possible, but this is the first time it has been successful practically. And since time has passed since your father's death, his _moda_ grows weaker within your brother. Therefore, the demon binds its free self to the only other _moda_ available - your brother's. And the markings on his back are the proof of this binding. It also tells us the extend to which the demon is bound to your brother, and how much time we have before the demon binds completely to your brother."

"We need to stop this, then," Matt inferred.

"_Da._ If the binding is complete, then the only way to be able to remove the demon from your brother's body will be to exorcise him. If we were to do that...it would kill both of them."

An ominous silence descended within the room, and all Matt could hear was the sound of his own heartbeat. The silence seemed to suffocate him, his heartbeat deafened him. Abruptly, he got up, and moved to leave the room.

"Does Natalya know?"

Matt stopped and turned to Alfred, who had finally opened his mouth after nearly an hour and half of silence. He was looking at Ivan, his eyes searching for the answer on Ivan's face.

"_Da. _She knows."

Matt, without waiting for another second, left the room. Alfred continued to stare at his hands, and Shree, after looking at Ivan and Alfred helplessly, got up and left behind Matt.

"How much time do I have left?" Alfred asked tersely.

"Another...nearly a year," Ivan said.

"Is there nothing we can do, Priest Ivan?" Eliza asked.

"There is," Ivan said.

"Can you remove Tony from me and let him go back home?" Alfred asked, his eyes searching for some solace in his hands.

"I cannot."

"So, you have a plan?"

"I do, but it isn't a very concrete plan. It will take some time to get the details right."

"I thought we did not have any time."

Ivan looked at Alfred. Honestly, it was this indestructible calm of the man that was more frightening than his human or even demonic rage. "It takes less time to execute a well made plan than to rush into the battle field without any direction."

"How much time?" Gilbert asked.

"Two days," Ivan said. "I need two day."

Alfred got up, and the three people remaining in the room watched him rise. "What can I do?"

"Talk to your demon friend. Find out more about this demon contract."

Alfred nodded, and walked out of the room. "See you in two days."

Ivan sighed, feeling older, way older than his age. He ran a hand over his weary face, and when he looked up, Eliza and Gilbert were looking at him.

"What is it?" he asked.

"We...we want to help," Eliza said slowly.

"Why?" Ivan said, getting up. He had much more work to do than he had imagined.

"Because it's the awesome thing to do," Gilbert said, and Eliza didn't hit him this time, like she always did.

Ivan looked from one to the other, and a thought formulated in his head. He bent down over his desk, and pulled out a sheet of paper. Grabbing a pen, he scribbled down names and directions, filling out the entire page. He straightened, and handed Eliza the page. "Ask for Dmitri, and show him the sheet. He will take you to the library of this temple, as well as libraries of the surrounding temples. I've written down which books you will find and which library. Go to the library of this temple; within an hour's time I will have sent to you letters of your introductions, as well as letter which will arrange your overnight accomedation at one of those temples, in case the need arises. When you rent to books, do so in my name, or let Dmitri handle it."

Eliza and Gilbert, who were going through the extensive list of books, looked up and nodded.

"Now, excuse me," Ivan said, mustering up as much of a smile his tired self could manage, and left the room. All he wanted to do was to sleep, and be dead to the world.

And then, he'd wake up and plan.

* * *

"I know you're there, Shree."

Seemingly from out of nowhere, Shree appeared at the doorway, and was greeting by the sight of Matt's bare back. "Do you want me to come in?" she asked tentatively.

"Of course," he said, without turning around, but she could sense the smile on his face.

Shree walked into the room almost cautiously, and sat down next to Matt. "Are you alright?" she whispered, not sure whether she wanted to ask.

Matt shook his head, his loose curls swishing around his face slowly, and sighed. "I'm tired, Shree. Can you blame me?"

"No, Matt, no," she whispered back. "You have been so very brave. More than anyone could ever expect of you."

"Really?" he asked tiredly. "I don't feel brave, Shree. I feel...exhausted."

Shree didn't say anything. Eventually, Matt began to talk again.

"First, my mum. Then, my dad. Now, my bro" -

"Matt, I" -

"No, Shree. Every single time. When my mum died...One minute, I'm hiding in the pillow fort, waiting for Alfred..." he whispered, smiling, "and the next minute, a man is standing above me, telling me he's my father and that mum's...dead. Then, Alfred's taken away from me, because he killed an entire village's population, and I had to sneak around to see my brother. Then I have Natalya knocking on my door to tell me my father's dead, and that he was hosting a demon inside...and now..." he looked up at Shree, and the anguish in his eyes tore Shree's hearts to shreds. "Shree, Alfred is my brother. He's the only family I have got. I can't lose him. But...the more I think about..." he whispered, a smile of complete sorrow tugging at his lips, "...the more I realise that there's nothing I can do. I can't remove this demon from him. I can't even help him with figuring things out, like you can. All I can do...is what I'm doing now. Sit here, twiddle my thumbs, and feel useless."

Shree's hand found Matt's, and he clutched onto it for his dear life, trying to draw in as much strength as he could. He clasped her hand in both of his, and drew it to his forehead, bending his head over her hand.

Shree got up, and kneeled before Matt. She slid her other hand over his cheek, her fingertips nestling in the soft hair on the side of his head, and lifted it until she saw his tear filled eyes.

"Matt, you can help. You know things about your father's life that nobody else would know. If you and Alfred sit together, and piece your father's life from what the two of you know, we can find out why Tony was summoned, and how he can be sent back to his home. And, my darling, Alfred loves you. He needs you. And there is no one he depends on more than he does on you. You are not useless, Matt. You can never be."

Matt's tears reduced in volume, and he gave Shree a watery smile. "You're an amazing person, Shree."

Shree blushed, and got up. Matt let go of her hand, as if reluctantly, and rose as well. "I'll start writing down whatever I remember of Dad's life, whatever might be relevant. No, I'll write down everything I can remember. And..."

He continued to talk, and Shree watched as he excitedly moved around, grabbing things to write on. And, suddenly, he appeared before Shree, grabbed her face, and kissed her on her forehead.

Shree's face went a bright pink as she looked at Matt's face. "Thank you," he said, grinning at her, and she found herself thinking that angels probably gave an arm and a leg to have a smile like his. "I know why Alfred calls you 'doll'. You're an absolutely amazing person, Shree."

And all Shree could do was stagger out in an absolute pink shock, her brains frying part by part as she thought about it.

He kissed her.

She had the biggest possible crush on Matt, and he kissed her.

Kissed _her._

Holy cow.

Now all she had to do before she died in utter happiness was to bury her head in her pillow and scream.

* * *

"Where are you running off to, Priestess?"

Nat froze, and almost immediately calmed down. She wiped at her wet cheeks, and pulled up the walls around her mind before tuning around. "None of your business."

"Really? You're going to be unfriendly to me, but best friends with people you just met?"

Nat's eyes flashed with anger at the tone of his voice. "Watch your words" -

"Or what? What will you do?" Alfred said, his voice soft, mocking. He pushed himself off the doorframe, and walked languidly towards Nat, like a panther playing with its food. He kicked the door shut with the back of his foot, and looked at her, a cruel look in his eyes.

"You didn't break every bone in _his_ body after what _he did_. You didn't even so much as hit him. I have a feeling, Priestess, that all your threats are empty. They don't mean a thing. Just like your actions" -

"What is your problem?" Nat growled at him, not risking a yell. She could feel her throat constricting, and tears rising _back_ to the surface. _Práklon - _she hadn't had enough time to get it all out of her system. "If you have come here to be difficult, leave."

He stopped right before her, and she could clearly see the rage in her eyes, masked by a facade of cruelty. "I don't plan to leave, Priestess. And difficult? I'm not the one being difficult. You, on the other hand" - he raised his hand, and ran his fingers down her cheek - "are the one being difficult."

Nat grabbed his hand, but before she could twist it behind him, it turned his hand within her grasp, grabbed it and pushed her to the wall, pinning it above her head.

"Alfred" -

"Oh, so now you know my name," he said, bending over her, his face as close as he could get it while staring pointedly into her eyes. "Wasn't I Jones or the demon or just" -

"I've never called you a demon," Nat whispered furiously.

"But since your boyfriend is here and calling me that" -

"What boyfriend?"

"Oh, don't give me that" -

"Are you talking about Ivan?" she squeaked.

"Who else do you have on the side?" Alfred growled.

"Alfred, Ivan isn't my boyfriend. He's my elder brother."

"Don't bullshit me, Natalya" -

"No, seriously. He's Katyusha's younger brother, by blood" -

"But not yours."

"..._Net_, not by blood" -

Alfred's look stopped her. What the hell was he talking about? He gritted his teeth, and narrowed his eyes. "So, let me just put this out there, for both our sakes. I'm attracted to you."

Of all the reactions he had imagined, Alfred did not expect a blush and widened eyes. "Really? That surprises you?" he asked, exasperated.

Nat shook her head quickly, and Alfred couldn't believe how adorable she was, and how he could feel that even through his frustration.

"_N-N-Net..._but...I didn't expect you to..."

"Be that honest with you? Well, some of us can be," Alfred said, and let go of her hand. "I'm attracted to you, Nat. And it pisses me off to see some other guy - that perverted priest, of all people possible - getting his hands and mouth all over you. But, if that surprises you..." he sighed tiredly, and closed his eyes. He honestly felt exhausted. He'd had a restless sleep, dreaming about his dead father's life, and when he'd tried to talk to Tony, he got no answer - just like in the beginning, when he'd started on this wild goose chase. And if that wasn't enough, every time he closed his eyes, he could see that white haired bastard kissing Natalya, and every time the memory morphed into something more weird and more provocative than the last.

But if he was who she wanted...Alfred eased off and moved back, giving her her space. He'd have to deal with it. Somehow.

He looked up to see her looking at him, her confusion unmasked and full in her face, without her trying to hide it. Her eyes...she failed to realise it, but her eyes always told the full story, only if one knew how to look. And that mouth...he wanted to kiss her until she couldn't see straight - hell, until neither of them could see straight. But he didn't - or wouldn't, if she honestly had feelings for that lecher...

"Do what you want," he said wearily, and turned away from her. "I'm sorry I wasted your time."

Nat didn't know what the hell was going on - things were moving too damn fast for her to comprehend one thing before the next two arrived. But as she watched Alfred's receeding back, an urgent thought screamed in her head -

If she didn't stop him...it would be her fault.

She had no idea what the hell that even meant. She had no idea what she was stopping him from, or why she had to stop him. But she just did. She just had to.

"Alfred."

He stopped, and looked at her. Now what? For some reason, his eyes mesmerised her. Their brilliant colour, the look of utter and total sadness...and the look of confusion when she stared for too long.

"What, priestess?" His voice. He sounded so tired. But his voice was amazing - when he wasn't being annoying. It was like liquid butter sliding over her lips and dripping slowly, into her open mouth. Even when he was tired, it felt like honey over her skin.

Why the hell was she noticing these things in him? Why _now_? She realised she had to say something, but before she could think, her body acted on her behalf.

"Don't go."

"And do what? Watch you looking at me like..."

He paused as she came to him from across the room, and before he knew it, her mouth was on his.

It was funny, how he'd notice how tiny she was only when he held her in his arms. She was beautiful. She was perfection.

He bent down, grabbed the side of her face, and tilted it to the side. His lips ravaged hers, his tongue darted in and out of her mouth, hitting against her tongue, his teeth holding her lips in between, teasing, biting. She moaned, he growled low in his throat. She was exquisite.

His hand roamed her body, and her hands couldn't get enough of him. She gripped at his vest, tried to push it away. He raised his hungry mouth from hers, removed his vest and threw it across the room. He stalked her, this time with the grace of a tiger walking before his mate in all his glory. Nat moved backwards, unable to look away from the look of utter lust in his eyes, a fire that blazed in those brilliant blues, a fire that raged all over her.

Nat fell back in bed and crawled backwards, followed by Alfred, who pushed her onto her back.

Nat looked at him, and ran her fingers from the top of his forehead, downwards. Mesmerized, she ran her fingers over his eyelids, watched him close his eyes to allow her to run her fingers over his eyes. Her fingers skimmed the ridges of his nose, crooked from one too many fights. And when her fingers reached his lips, he let all pass but one, and trapped it in between his teeth.

"Oh," she gasped softly, surprised both by the gesture and the amount of heat it seemed to ignite in her. She could feel the wet feeling between her legs, the laxness that came with the wetness counteracting the tightness that came with that kind of heat.

He grinned at her surprise, his relaxed smile at complete odds with the burning desire in his eyes. His hair was a complete mess, falling over his forehead, but somehow...

How the hell did that annoying loudmouth turn so _hot_?

"Natalya?" he murmured. "You look _gorgeous._"

The way he whispered that, or just the look on his face when he said that, sent the heat flowing thickly in her blood shooting to the stars, and she whimpered in response, a complete foreigner to this side of her. "Alfred..."

Her soft moans sent thrills through his body, thrills that made him feel alive like nothing else could. "Yeah, baby?"

"Kiss me."

Alfred chuckled and diver towards her, picking her up and rolling them both until she was lying down on top of him. "No, Priestess. _You. Kiss. Me."_

She leaned down and kissed him, with all the previous fury, and them some. Teeth, tongue, lips - neither of them knew what was happening, but they knew exactly what they wanted.

His head roamed on her back; her hair fell over his ear; his hand found her ample bottom, and squeezed. She raised her mouth from his and moaned; he set his mouth on the sensitive skin of her neck, and started nibbling.

Slowly, he turned her around as his teased her neck, until he was towering over her again, his elbows and knees on either side of her writhing, hot body. One hand worked on the buttons of her shirt, the other roamed her body, his fingertips igniting heat wherever they went. His mouth moved lower, his tongue lapping up the taste of her skin, his teeth teasing to the point of pleasurable pain, and his lips soothing and sucking. His mouth moved lower still, until the swell of her breasts was under his mouth.

"Alfred..."

Something in that tone made him look up. Gods, she was _sexy_. Her hair was all messed up, and her lips were red and throbbing. Her eyes were clouded over, and her neck and chest were marked with red, wherever his teeth had played with her skin. She looked like a feast before him, and he was hungry enough to eat her whole. But...

The thought of a 'but' cut through the haze of desire around his sense, and reminded him of where they were. He straightened, and looked at her.

Fucking hell, but he was going to hate himself for it.

"Alfred?" Nat asked, confusion inching into those lovely, peculiar blue eyes of hers.

"What we're doing...I don't want it to happen like this, Nat. Not like this," he said, sitting back on his haunches. "And definitely not in that pervert's temple." Nat giggled, and he grinned. He leaned forward, took her face in his hands, and dragged her in for a long, slow kiss, one that set the beat of his heart to a steady thrum, pushing his blood through his veins like hot, sticky honey.

He lifted his head his lips curving into a smile when Nat raised her head for another kiss. With one final bite on her lower lip, Alfred straightened and looked at her. "I want to do this properly. Not a place like this, not at a time like this. I want it to be special. Do you understand?"

Nat nodded, eyes half drawn, and raised her hand to his cheek. A wave of tenderness sweeped over him - he took her hand in his, and placed a kiss in the middle of her palm. "And as much as I'll kick myself for doing this later, I'm going to go now." He gave her one last kiss on her forehead, and got off the bed. He was stiff and bulging, and it was excruciatingly uncomfortable. All he needed now was a long, cold shower -

"Alfred?"

"Hmm?" he hummed, turning around.

"I have a question...I've never done this before, so..."

Concern creeped into his mind. "What is it?"

"Why is it sticky and wet between my legs?"

Alfred grabbed the nearest chair to keep himself from falling, and couldn't hold in his groan of frustration as his member twitched against the cloth of his underwear.

He really needed that long, cold shower, and if he didn't drag her in with him to '_help_' her clean away that 'wet stickiness'...

Never before had a cold shower looked so good.

* * *

**A.T.: Well, that didn't go quite as I'd planned it, but when I look back at it, it went...better. Ehehehehe. I'm the pervert here, not Ivan. **

**I'm kinda out of touch with writing the last-scene's kind of thing, so bear with me until I get practice.**

**I finished it on Saturday in the third sitting, and kept typing it out until Sunday morning. And then, something stalled me...a word of advice. Don't befriend your ex. If you're a conflict hater and a harmony lover like me, then you'll think it's the better thing to do, because the other person's got you all figured out...don't, unless you're the one who's been setting the rules. But don't. I don't get to tell you this, but I also do, because there is one person who follows the rules, and the other person who breaks them. And there will always be one person who _has feelings for you._ If you're the second type, dude, there's a reason they're your ex. Don't forget that.**

**Is R. K. Iris having problems with her ex? No. But she will in the near future.**

**Relationship-rant over.**

**But if you are the rule-setter and you know what you want, then you'll have a beautiful friendship.**

**Okay, now the rant is truly over.**

**Also, if you have a dream where you're kissing your best friend, then don't tell them about it. Don't ruin what you have.**

**Did R. K. Iris tell her best friend that she was kissing him senseless in her dream? No. Because she doesn't want to ruin what she has.**

**I just realised I'm talking about myself in the third person, and that's kinda...stupid. Just kinda.**

**Also, cold showers work. Mostly. But not if you're a girl. None of that stuff works if you're a girl. Just read a lot of erotica and eat loads of chocolate, and wait for the feeling to wear off in another week. If you're not single, then...rock your partner's world.**

**Yes, R. K. Iris is single, which is why she knows those things.**

**Wow, extremely long A.T. I guess I am opening up.**

**Well, I hope I didn't creep you out. Review answer section next!**

**Love,**

**R. K. Iris.**

* * *

**Review answer section:**

**Guest: Thank you so much for your review! Any kind of review makes me happy, although I do have a weakness towards long ones (ehehehe). I'm so glad you don't feel any of this stuff is OOC, because that is my honest fear sometimes. Your review means a lot to me...thank you so very much!**

**-O-**

**TheEnglishMuffin: **

**Hiiiii! Hey, I'm happy we're both satisfied at the end of the day ;)**

**Well, you'll get to know more about Ivan's abilities in the upcoming chapters, where it'll positively blow your blown mind to bits, because just thinking about it gives me the heebie-jeebies. And aneurysms over Ivan are good any day.**

**Well, it's not a secret - I just write the story the way I see it. I've said this before while writing 'My Friend Natalia' (go check that out - it's a completely different universe and a completely different kind of story, but I think you'll like that, too) - I see the scene happening before me, and it happens in between the paper/screen that I'm using to write on, and my eyes. And I have this narrative running in my head, describing how I feel when I'm in a certain characters shoes, and whatever I see from that character's POV, I write. And the best words to use are the simplest - it's not easy to evoke an image entirely through words, but using certain synonyms of a word can invoke a certain thought in the reader's head. If that thought is closest to what you are imagining, use it. That's how it works. You need to keep reading up and actively creating an image in your head every time you read, and then remember to use it when you're writing. Read Classics, if you want to brush up on image-evoking words, because nothing gets my imagination flowing like Classics do.**

**Well, Alfred was fucked from the moment he stepped into the limelight...it just gets worse before it gets better, as most things do. **

**I hope this chapter lives up to your expectations (*fingers crossed in all possible ways*)**

**If you leave more than one review, I honestly don't think my heart could take it...I love your reviews, and I totally look forward to reading them first thing the day after my chapter comes out. But still, I'd pass out happy, so...ehehehehe.**

**Love you loads, darling...and my friend knows what I catch I am ;) Certain choices in my life have shown me that I as a person value friendships more than romantic relationships, so I'm just writing off my momentary feelings as a one-off thing which I don't have to tell him...but still, thank you so much, darling!**

**Have a wonderful week!**

**-O-**

**Skye:**

**Heyyy! Welcome back! Well, it did hurt, and the person it hurt most was Natalya, thus the first scene in this chapter, along with the rest of the realisations that she had, which Ivan explains to Matt and Alfred later on in the chapter. She knows what's going on before any of them do, and she reacts to it the only way she can out of sheer exhaustion, which all of them are feeling uniformly. **

**Well, who says there isn't going to be one of those infamous triangles? ;) There is going to be a triangle, but not with the dynamics that you're expecting to see - that's my food for thought for you. You're not going to believe the one other explanation that your mind will cook out, but listen to your mind. Anyways, I'll leave you to think about it.**

**Thanks for your review, darling, and keep coming back to read!**


	20. That lecherous Priest

**A/N: I have a couple of important announcements to make.**

**I wouldn't be doing this if I had a choice, but I don't. I won't be uploading chapters for the next two weeks. There is a State-level NSS (National Service Scheme) camp that I'll be attending from 9th to 13th, after which I'll be going to Manipal for two days, and returning back home only on Saturday afternoon after finishing dissection class. This week I won't be able to upload even if I have the time to write, and next week I won't have the time to write even if I can upload. I really wish I could do something about it, but trust me, I would if I could. I will be carrying my story note book with me and writing down stuff during this week and once I'm in Manipal, but I can't carry around my laptop with me, especially when I won't be able to use it. **

**Another heads-up I want to give y'all is that I've enrolled for an animal welfare camp, which will be for three hours every Sunday, plus another three hours of travel time. It'll take up my entire Sunday morning + afternoon, and since I'm driving, I'll be tired af in the evening. It started today, and it'll be for another twenty Sundays, which means it'll be all the way till August 14, which will be a lot of me being tired. I will stick to the schedule, or I will change it to Wednesdays uploading instead of Sundays, whatever works out. Or even Saturdays, I don't know. I'll have it worked out, and I'll inform you when that happens.**

**The third thing is my soon-to-arrive exams. Nothing's been announced, but I will be having my sem end exams sometime mid to late May and throughout June and maybe even July, so my uploads might become lesser at that time, because I'll have one internal and two externals at the time. I'll let you know from when to when the exams are, but I'm 95% sure I shan't be uploading during my exams. It's too much pressure, and I won't be coming back home at the time. If it helps in dealing with stress, I will continue to write, but I highly doubt I'll be in any position to upload. But I will say this - once my holidays come along, I will shift to a once-in-three-days schedule, to make it up ;)**

**31 reviews! YAAAAAAAAAY! Guys, keep up the support! Thank you all for reviewing!**

**Thank you pinkdoughnuts, Chromiumface, Yournamehere, and TheEnglishMuffin for reviewing! My replies are at the section at the end, so do check them out! And do keep reviewing - they put butterflies in my stomach :D**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Net - Rus - No

Zima - Rus - Winter

Dorogoy - Rus - My dear

Da - Rus - Yes

Duruni - - the title used to address or refer to Om

Brat - Rus, Bel - Brother

* * *

**Chapter 20**

Someone was watching him.

Alfred tensed, his senses scanning his surroundings as he let another mugful of water slide over him. One of the annoying things about these temples was how there were no showers - it was almost unimaginable when he'd started off on this journey. A huge hall served as the common bathing area, with one side holding cubicles for private bathing, another far off corner holding toilets, and the majority of the remaining space elevated and holding pond-sized bath tubs or bath spaces. Some of those spaces were specific for meditation purposes, and others were common bath spaces, holding hot, lukewarm, or cold water.

A corner of the bath had spaces like the cubicles, but its height came up to half the size, and did not have doors. It was usually used by children, and its lack of doors allowed their fathers to monitor their children whilst using the common bath.

Alfred preferred using the bath area usually in the afternoon time or late at night, when the bath hall was empty. He hated closed spaces, like the cubicles - it reminded him of his 'home' for seven years. He didn't use the common baths because while it could hold fifteen people comfortably, it took fifteen people to fill the bath, and fifteen people to drain and dry the saucer shaped bathing space, and Alfred was not fifteen people. Alfred only used the half-height cubicles, and only when he was sure there was nobody else there.

But now, someone was watching him.

Alfred picked up another mugful of water. Initially, he didn't understand the concept of filling a bucket with water and washing himself in mugfuls, but it saved a lot of water, he realised, and he could reach and clean himself thoroughly.

He poured the mugful on himself, his senses narrowing down on the intruder. He picked up the next mugful, and in a blink of an eye, he spun around and flung water in the direction of the intruder.

His intruder, unscathed and dry, shrugged sympathetically. "You almost got me, comrade."

"What are you, a peeping Tom?" Alfred said disgustedly.

Ivan pouted thoughtfully, then shrugged again. "Well, I did say I was interested in your behind - but I find your front much more..._interesting_."

Ivan walked towards him, and Alfred blinked, trying to comprehend what the man before him had just said. By the time he figured it out, however, it was too late - Ivan had entered his cubicle, and Alfred's lower back was pressed against the upper edge of the wall.

"What the hell are you doing, man?" Alfred gasped in shock. "Didn't you say you didn't swing that way?"

Ivan smiled, his unique brand of cruelty showing up. "I said you interested me, if I swung that way." Ivan put his hands on the edge of the wall, on either side of Alfred, trapping him. "And I decided that I _do_ swing that way." His eyes roamed over Alfred's wet, naked chest, and Alfred had never felt so violated in his life.

"Bro, get off me _now_," Alfred growled. He darted his gaze downwards, and felt himself blush involuntarily. The lecher was as naked as the day he was born.

Alfred leaned back, trying to keep as much distance from Ivan as he could, but _he_ was the one trapped, and Ivan was trying to close whatever space there was between them.

Alfred braced his hands on the edge of the wall, and put his entire weight on his arms. He swung his feet put, planted his feet of Ivan's chest and kicked him away in a matter of fraction of seconds, putting his entire force behind the kick.

Ivan was pushed away, and Alfred spun upwards and landed behind the cubicle wall. He grabbed the towel, and ran around the cubicles.

Ivan was fast, and without his clothes, his speed was no more a secret - the man's reaction time was amazing, and the time his body took to react was still amazing. Alfred was behind the cubicles, and Ivan in front, and whichever direction Alfred feinted in, Ivan followed.

_Tony, man, I don't know where you are, but I need your help now, man -_

"Don't call out your demon, comrade," Ivan said. It will accelerate the binding process."

Alfred growled, and decided to take the man head on - he jumped over the cubicles, and charged at Ivan, grabbing his torso and trying to throw him off balance. But Ivan was much stronger than what Alfred credited him for - Ivan grabbed Alfred, and swung him into the air.

Alfred twisted his hips, and his loosely tied towel fell down, falling over Ivan's face. Twisting his entire body, Alfred spun out of Ivan's grip, and kicked his back, his leg swinging from mid air like a hammer into his back.

Ivan let go of Alfred and stumbled forward, and Alfred looked at the man. "What the hell's on your back?" Alfred yelled at him, unable to believe his eyes.

The most beautiful, nine petalled flower bloomed over the entire length and breadth of Ivan's back, its white petals streaked with red and lilac. Within the petals were letters of the holy language, and the flower looked so real that all Alfred could do was look at it in shocked awe, and it was this same look which greeted Ivan when he turned around.

"That, comrade, is a contract seal," Ivan said. "Unlike your demon friend, my demon hated my guts, and tried to kill me. I'm sure you've seen these," Ivan said, his fingers running over the tattoos of his neck. "Or at least, you had seen these when you were under the control of your demon friend."

Alfred looked at the man. His neck and arms were heavily tattooed, and Alfred could make out a pattern. The tattoos in themselves were beautiful, and Alfred couldn't see a single image out of place - neither could he see any of the man's actual skin, until where the tattoos ended at the wrists. And all over his neck and arms were scars - if the tattoos were not there, the scars would have completely covered the skin. But the scars did not deface the tattoos - in fact, Alfred doubted that any of those tattoos were normal. When he focussed on the scars, the tattoos seemed almost translucent, as if it was a sheath under which the scars existed.

"Those are not normal," Alfred said, indicating in the direction of the tattoos.

"_Net_...they are not," Ivan agreed. "These are made through a wholly different process than tattoos."

Alfred frowned at the man before him. "You aren't here to...get lucky, are you?" he said, shuddering at the thought.

Ivan grinned, and Alfred was surprised at how handsome the man could be by just a genuine smile. "I hope to...get lucky, as you put it. But more than that, I've come here to help you."

"Help me how" -

"Alfred!"

Both of them couldn't react fast enough when Natalya appeared at the doorway, chest heaving, eyes wild with fear. "Alfred, you" - and her jaw dropped open at the sight of two gloriously naked men, standing at arm's distance from each other.

Nat's face turned completely red in a matter of milliseconds. "Both of you get some clothes on!" he yelled, and stormed out.

_I cannot lend my power to you right now, Alfred, but I brought her along._

Alfred brightened, and immediately turned sour._ Bro, I'm glad you're back, but that didn't help. This asshole here wants my asshole, and I'm not going to let him -_

_He's coming this way -_

But it was too late - Ivan had knocked Alfred's legs off the ground, and had him pinned even before he hit the ground.

"I'm going to train you," Ivan murmured, "to control your physical strength, and to use your demon's powers to increase your strength. And, in return," - Alfred squeaked as Ivan nuzzled Alfred's neck - "I expect" -

"I don't want any training," Alfred grunted, struggling until something hard brushed his stomach. _Fuck_.

Ivan grinned as he rose, tilting his head as he studied Alfred's red face. "I see you have met my friend, comrade. Besides, Shree said you'd be excited...to learn."

Alfred's eyes widened, and quickly turned his face away from Ivan's descending puckered lips, opening his mouth to yell.

"Shree, you demon!"

-O-

* * *

Shree bounced through the field towards Matthew. "Hey, Matt. Whatchu doing?"

Matt looked up and grinned, and Shree found herself looking at Heaven personified. "Hey, Shree. Alfred's really pissed off at you."

"Oh, no! Why?"

Matt rolled his eyes at the obvious falseness of Shree's concern, and Shree stuck her tongue out. "I _might_ have told Ivan that Alfred can be compliant. Why, what did" -

"Since when is Alfred _compliant_?" Matt asked.

"You don't know, Matt, how he is, in his heart of hearts, compliant and waiting for someone to show him the way," Shree said in mock seriousness, and Matt had a feeling she was telling him what she'd told Ivan. Matt would have believed that Shree could never be serious if he hadn't seen her while she fought. "Why, what did he tell you?"

"More like what I saw," Matt said as he walked in step with her. "I was searching for him when I met Natalya, who yelled 'bathroom' at me when I asked her where he was - that was really weird, and her face was all red, and - Anyways, so yeah. I go to the bathroom, and he's pinned to the floor, and Ivan's on top of him, trying" -

Shree slapped his forearm and chortled gleefully. "Oh, stop! This so so exciting!"

Matt shook his head, chuckling. The woman was truly a devil. "Anyways, I got Ivan to let go of Alfred, who was completely shook up. And Ivan told us to meet with him before dinner. Is that where you were going?"

"Yeah," Shree said, and her face brightened. "Well, well! Look who decided to show up after so long!"

"Aww, Shree. Did you miss the awesome me?" Gilbert asked as he and Elizabeta approached them.

"Where have you been?" Matt asked Eliza, who came to stand near him.

"Priest Ivan sent us with Dmitri to get some books for him - it took us two days to get all of those things," Eliza said, and the two of them walked in their mutually slow pace, watching Gilbert and Shree picking up the pace and walking in front of them.

"Some books," Matt joked.

"He wrote down one title, but failed to mention it came in eleven volumes, and each volume was the size of a tome," Eliza said, rolling her eyes. "I spoke to a lot of people when I'd gone out. Matt, the people we're moving around or meeting are exceptionally powerful" -

"Yeah...they're really strong," Matt agreed, but Eliza shook her head.

"Not like that, Matthew. They are the kind of people who run this world. People from their own temples vie for a chance to see them. Nat is personally known by slightly more people, but people like Ivan and Shree are rarely seen. They were curious to know _how_ we were related to the three of them."

"_That_ kind of powerful," Matt said, and Eliza nodded. He looked at the older woman. "You know, we aren't unfamiliar to that kind of power. We're at the same position in our world, too," he said.

"That is true...Nat and Shree are absolute celebrities."

Eliza kept quiet, and Matt couldn't help himself. "And Ivan?" One look at her face had Matt concerned. "What is it, Eliza?"

"The things they said about the man, Matthew," Eliza said, shuddering. "If we were back in Fitzgerald, Matt, I would never let you meet him" -

"I second that."

Matt and Eliza stopped, and Gilbert looked on, confused, as Shree turned around, a knowing smile on her face. Realising that Shree had overheard them, Eliza grew embarrassed, and opened her mouth to apologise.

Shree held up a hand, and looked at the three of them. "Most of those rumours have an inkling of truth in them. But only if you know him well enough, you can tell which parts of those are true. He is a dangerous man, Eliza, and if it had been five years or so, I would have agreed with you, and we would have never come here, and Mathias would have never suggested that we come here. The reason why we're here, and why he's helping us is because his story is not very different from Alfred's. Both their fathers trapped demons within them. But where your father was more merciful, Ivan's father...he trapped one of the most powerful demons ever summoned into his son, in all of its entirety, and almost immediately tried to kill him. The remaining priests stopped him, but the demon within Ivan tried to kill him as well...the marks on his neck are proof of that. The priest who took him in and raised him was the then Deputy of the House of Flame, and he went on to become the Head Priest of the House.

"Ivan's had people hate him or be scared of him all his life, and he's done nothing to prevent that - in fact, some of his actions...let's just say that those who have survived have been completely right in hating him. But ever since General Zima put him up to becoming Head of the House, he's pulled his act together, and he's put himself on trial against all of his misgivings. Nobody knows if he's truly evil, or if it's that demon within him. All I know is that whenever I have asked him for help, he's given it to me.

"Listen," she said. "I've had the same inhibitions you are having now. All I did was judge him on his actions towards me. And, for me, it's worked perfectly fine. As your friend, I'll just suggest you do the same."

The rest of them nodded, and walked into the building, making their way to Ivan's office in the temple campus.

When they entered the room, Ivan was standing behind the desk, assembling bundles of paper. He looked up at them, and smiled. "Ah, comrades. Welcome. Thank you for coming. If we're all here, we can begin."

"You scared Alfred away," Shree laughed. "He's not coming."

Ivan frowned. "I was just being friend, _dorogoy_. And a majority of this plan has to do with him" -

"We're here," Nat said as she entered the room, but she stayed at the door. She looked at Ivan dead in the eye. "I don't know what you two did in the bath, but he's begged me to protect him from you...You'll have to stay away from him." she said curtly in her native tongue.

Ivan dismissed it with a hand. "I shall not be friendly, then. Get him in."

Alfred came in before Ivan could stop talking, glaring at Ivan. With a nod towards him, Nat walked towards Shree, moving into the room.

"Stay away from me," was all he said, and sat on the chair by the door.

"Alfred, comrade" -

"I'm not your comrade."

"That's the doorman's chair."

"It's good enough."

"Do you wish I shout across the hall?"

"That'll be perfect, thanks."

Ivan sighed, and came in front of his desk.

"Stay right there," Alfred warned. "I swear to God, you come in arm's range and I _will_ aim for paralysis or death."

"It is misunderstanding" -

"I _understand_ perfectly" -

"Ivan," Shree snapped, stopping their conversation. "You called us...?"

"Ah, _da_," Ivan said. "I have a couple of things to tell all of you."

Ivan picked up a couple of sheets from his table, and sat down lightly on the edge of the desk. "I am not going to make any modifications in _Duruni's_ prescribed nanogram, but I have made changes in the route, to get us around faster. There are higher chances of us being accosted by demons on our way, due to the negative spiritual energy along these routes, but I am sure everyone here can handle it. Everyone except him," he said, pointing at Alfred.

"Come right up, baby, and I'll handle you just fine," Alfred said, his eyes hard as diamonds.

"I am serious, comrade" -

"I find that hard to believe" -

"Alfred," Shree said with finality, and Alfred crossed his arms, his mouth drawn in a tight line.

"Comrade," Ivan said, and his tone made Alfred look at him. "For someone to be able to control your demon without much help in that direction is impressive, but there is one problem. You have all this power, but you can control only very less of it. If you were to hold a large amount of demonic energy within you, your body starts to burn. The only way you can unlock a bulk of your power is to lose your mind in a rage, and then you become a liability, because your powers are in control of you. You can hurt anyone around you - everyone is fair game. The natural way would be to expose you to a little bit of your power over a long period, so that your body gets accustomed. But we don't have that much time."

All of them silently digested what Ivan said, without interrupting him even once. Alfred wanted to yell at the white haired pervert, but he wasn't being a pervert - he was being honest, and what he said made sense.

"Can't Natalya or Shree do what you can?" Alfred asked.

"I've lived with a demon inside me since I can remember. They haven't."

And that sealed the deal for Alfred, but...he didn't like Ivan. It had nothing to do with what had happened in the bath - it would take him a _really_ long time to get over it, but it wasn't the first time a guy had thrown himself at Alfred although it had been a long time ago. A part of him did find Ivan attractive, but he put it down to how similar Ivan and Natalya looked.

There was something about his eyes...he wasn't truly evil, but neither did his eyes show that he was truly good. Ivan moved in a grey area, and Alfred had never seen someone so comfortable in their moral ambiguity. There was no way to say what he would do or wouldn't do given the circumstances, but the one thing that was sure was that he would do whatever it took for him to get what he wanted.

Alfred didn't disagree with that, but it was what he saw in those purple eyes.

He saw his father in those eyes.

Worse yet, he saw himself.

Alfred got up, and looked at all of them. "Alright, then. But when we do fight, I _will_ aim for paralysis."

Ivan smirked. "Once I have finished teaching you, comrade, _then_ you will be capable of harming me. Then, however, I shall fight to the death. I hope it never has to come to that."

Alfred snorted. "You'd better hope." With a wave, he left the room.

Ivan sighed, and looked at the rest of them. "Mr Beilschmidt, Ms Hedervary, would you please continue to go through the books with Dmitri? Your short notes are turning out to be very helpful to me. If there is anything you need, Dmitri will be more than happy to help you," he said, smiling sweetly. "Don't let me keep you."

The two of them didn't trust that smile, for their own reasons. They nodded, and left the room as well.

Matt watched the transformation in Ivan's demeanour as soon as Eliza and Gilbert left - the aura around him died out. His shoulders and face drooped with weariness, and his intimidating presence was no longer to be sensed. He seemed exhausted, and he rubbed his face with his hands. "I'm too old for this," he muttered. "Why did I agree to do this?"

"Ivan..." Shree said, and sat down next to him, one hand on his shoulder, the other on his hand. "It's fine. Relax."

"We don't have much time," he said, and Matt was more shocked by the man's tone than what he was saying. He sounded like he was close to giving up. "Whether he accesses his powers or not, the seal is going to continue to scribe itself until it is complete. But if he doesn't learn..."

"_Brat_."

Ivan looked up at Nat. She walked to him, took his hand in both of hers, and place a long kiss on the back of his hand. "It is alright. He will not stray," Nat said.

Matt looked at Ivan, and the two women beside him who were trying to give him comfort and confidence. He suddenly remembered what Shree had told him about the demon in Ivan, and he understood what was going on.

Ivan saw Alfred as what he had been a long time ago, before he had learnt to control the demon. He saw Alfred as what he could have been, but never had the chance to become.

"Shree...I need your help."

The three of them looked at Matt, who had just spoken. "What is it?"

"I need you to get me into Alfred's psyche."

* * *

"What are you doing here?"

_I was shocked to see Mattie there. Honestly, it was bad enough that I had to re-establish my relationship with Tony - which is why I didn't let Shree in for a long time - but to see broski there was something I didn't expect._

_Matt smiled at me, and turned to Shree. He whispered something to her, and she nodded before she disappeared._

"Mattie? What is it?"

_Matt walked towards me, and looked around to see Tony sitting at some distance from me. I was worried as to how Tony would react, but he was looking at Matt with curiosity._

"If your father could be tamed, he would look like you."

_Matt looked taken aback, but I understood what Tony meant. He;d told me I looked like the dead old man, but I was missing something that he had. He'd also told me that he saw that something in Mattie, but it was a much more mature, evolved form, one which the old man tired to achieve but could never reach._

"I was writing down what I remembered about Dad's life," _Mattie said, and nodded at Tony._ "Hello. I'm Matthew William Fitzgerald."

"You reminded him of his mother," _Tony said._

_Matt sat down, and I sat beside him, the three of us facing each other, at the apices of the triangle between us._ "Dad's mother?"

"You have her hair, and her demeanour."

"I didn't know that," _Matt murmured, and looked at me. He grinned._ "Well, that explains who I take after. You take after mum, but I knew I never took after Dad." _Matt kept quiet for a while._ "You know, that's why I'm here. As I wrote down stuff I remembered of Dad's life, I realised the things I knew would be irrelevant, unless I knew the context. You knew the context, but none of the stuff you would see would make sense to you, since you didn't know the backstory. So I thought I would meet Tony, and we could make sense of why Dad did...what he did."

_That made sense, but..._ "How are you here in the first place?"

_Matt smiled, and I swear to God I saw him blush._ "Shree helped."

"How is she not here?"

"She didn't explain...but she said she would pull me out if it got too dangerous for my mind. She said it's risky, but I can do it for a few minutes at a time, probably for half an hour a day, at the most for an hour."

"Okay...so what do you want to do? Have Tony here tell us what he knows?"_ I asked. Honestly, Tony took a long time to open up, and I could not imagine him telling us anything._

"Actually...that was not what I had in mind,"_ Matt said slowly._ "Do you remember how you saw flashes of Dad's life in the beginning? When we were with Priestess Katyusha and then after we left her place?"

"Yeah..."_ I said uncertainly. I didn't know where he was going with this, but I could sense Tony's growing interest._

"Well, I was wondering whether Tony could make that happen again, but instead of just you...I could come with you, too."

_I was speechless. Honestly, I had no clue how those 'flashbacks' had worked in the first place, but I knew Tony had been doing it to get me unsettled. I kind of saw where Mattie came from - if Natalya could have been there with me at that point of time, there was no reason that Mattie couldn't be there, either. But I didn't know how it worked, and I didn't know whether Tony could do it or not._

_Tony, however, was thinking very hard; he was actually considering it. We just sat in silence, staring at Tony, until he looked up at us._ "Yes. I can do that."

_I blinked. That was quick, and...unexpected._ "You can?" _both of us asked at the same time, but our voices carried very different tones - Mattie was excited, while I was...well...shocked._

"Yes. I can do that. But it will cut down your time in this psyche by half, until your mind gets used to it. Also, you will suffer from terrible headaches afterwards." _Tony studied Mattie._ "But you would cut your limbs off by yourself if it helped your brother - that is how you are."_ I didn't have enough time to stare at the both of them before Tony said,_ "I will do it. Are you ready?"

_I sure as hell wasn't, but Mattie looked as if he had been born ready._ "Yes."

"Hell no." _But nobody cared to know what I thought anyways._

"Alright then. Let us do this."

_And we went down the rabbit hole of memories, that led straight to my dead old man._

* * *

**A.T.: Well, that's a good chapter there. I wrote down 4500 words, and added the rest while I was typing it out on my laptop. My Wednesday classes suck, so I get two hours to write then, as well as the afternoon to write...also, Saturday mornings I get an hour to write. The rest I write before I upload it, when I'm typing it out.**

**Well, my best friend got to know about my dream, and he did exactly what I'd typed out he would do. We're even, he says, because he had had a crush on me a year ago. Choo. That's cute right there. Oh, and he caught up on the story and reviewed the previous chapter, too.**

**R. K. Iris has averted a crisis. Hurrah for R. K. Iris!**

**And my ex stopped texting me after I told him I want to stay friends. Felt bad for a day, but then shrugged my shoulders and got on with my busy life.**

**R. K. Iris has averted a second crisis. Hurrah for R. K. Iris!**

**And I went out to this amazing place which makes continental food for lunch with one of my favourite seniors. And me and my bestie rescued a crow with Vit-B deficiency - it causes their toes to curl up. We gave it medicine and water and food before setting it free.**

**R. K. Iris has averted a third crisis. Hip Hip Hurrah!**

**I'm sorry, I'm being a kid.**

**I just decided that I am not going to go the extra effort when it comes to any relationship, unless the other person reciprocates. I feel I have some meaningful relationships without jumping through the hoops I used to go through before, and if anyone wants me to jump through those again, I don't have the emotional energy to bother, or to maintain any state of mind other than utter contentment and apathy. Which is why I write - it helps fulfill me where other things will never be able to.**

**And I got my doggy Dingo a bright red collar - he looks like a darling.**

**Well, I'm exhausted. A week well spent, I'll say.**

**I'll see you darlings as soon as I can. Until then, enjoy!**

**Love,**

**R. K. Iris.**

* * *

**Review answer section:**

**-O-**

**Pinkdoughnuts:**

**Thank you so much for reviewing! I'm so glad you liked the chapter!**

**As soon as I read about what you thought about Matt and Shree's relationship, I opened my story note book and checked my notes for the story, and there it was, at the end of the page:**

**'Shree and Matt's love story is cute.'**

**And I thought to myself: Mission Accomplished.**

**After what they've been through (and what they'll be through) they totally deserve it.**

**Well, if my pent up frustration has helped ease other pent up frustrations - Yay! I totally enjoyed writing that scene, and that too to 'Can't remember to forget you.' And between Alfred and Nat, Alfred is the more sensible one in relation to these things - Nat's too busy enjoying herself (ehehehehe). We are all, at the end of the day, pervs.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well! Have a wonderful week!**

**-O-**

**Chromiumface:**

**A. It's chromiumwhat'shisface. Get that right - although I forgive you about the character space shortage problem.**

**Thanku :D**

**And I'm glad the fighting scenes got your approval ;)**

**-O-**

**Yournamehere:**

**I'm glad you found it hot ;)**

**Well, I have, but I don't think I've ever put it on here. You could check out my other stuff to see some more hotness going on - I was more in touch with my inner pervert back then. If you make an account, I could PM it to you ;) :p**

**-O-**

**TheEnglishMuffin:**

**I was waiting for your review! Heyyy!**

**Well, I hope next week gets you a lot more better stuff than this week did. And I'm glad you enjoyed this chapter :)**

**Ivan and Nat's supposed 'relationship' will be explain by our very own best friend, Shree, to our other very own best friend, Alfred sometime in the later chapters, because he'll get the same question you're asking. But, I'll give you a hint: it's not the first time it's happened, and Nat had nothing to do with initiating it either time.**

**Like I said, things get better for Alfred after they get worse...it'll look up, don't worry.**

**Matt and Shree are what I would have wanted for the past me - I draw a lot of Shree from the character sketch I'd created for my pen name, Iris. I used to be a hyper, bubbly, crazy character - now I'm just crazy - but Iris was always more than that, and if Iris had a form and a life, it would be Shree's life. And someone like Matt, who's calm, composed, sane, but at the same time more than all of that is the kind of guy who will excite someone like Shree, or Iris. I live my hopes of a future love life through them, honestly, but I don't really expect it, because the kind of person I am draws in the kind of character Ivan is. And when the next pairing appears in the story, I'll explain what I mean then.**

**And, honestly, if I find a Canadian guy called Matt who has all the qualities of our Matt and he likes me...hell, I'm marrying the dude. Try and stop me.**

**Emotional rant over.**

**Well, like I told pinkdoughnuts, Alfred's the more sensible one in this. You'll get to know more about his past, where he was this total womanizer and had too much experience for one guy to have. Nat's just going with the flow - she's too busy enjoying herself to figure out what is going on, much less what it'll lead to. And I'm relieved that no one went OOC in that scene.**

**I try to be as accurate as possible to their characters, but I can't copy it off someone else, even if that someone happens to be the creator of the form and names of the characters. I need to make them mine and then let them play out the story in their own way - otherwise, it will never feel real for me, let alone for someone else. **

**Oh, Nat's a total baby in these things. More of that to come later. ;)**

**You red MFN! Oh my god! You don't know how happy that makes me feel - MFN is something so very close to my heart, and I love the soul of that story and all the things it has ever given me. One of my best friends whom I met through MFN is the person for whom I'm writing this story for, and I can totally see her loving and enjoying this story. Her death anniversary is going to come soon, and I can just imagine her going crazy, partying like the badass she is and gushing over this story to everyone involved.**

**I love you loads, darling! I wish you all the luck in anything you want to do - you're a beautiful person, and you must know it. Thank you - I need all the luck I can get with relationships (and any French you can send my way is very much appreciated, darling :D so, I encourage you rather than pardon you),**

**Have a lovely week, darling!**


	21. A sick mind is the same as a Demon

**A/N: A couple of announcements.**

**My exams are starting from June 10th, and going up all the way till July 21st-ish, so at that point of time I shall not be uploading chapters. I will be writing, though, since it'll be my only distraction from my studies, so when my holidays come around, I'll make up for the lost time. Internals plus externals this time T-T Wish me luck.**

**Due to this, my coming home will be reduced, and I'm not planning to take my laptop with me. I'll be able to upload once in two weeks because of this, and once my exams come, I will not upload at all. But that does not mean I am discontinuing this - I'm sticking with this story till the very end.**

**Another announcement is rather exciting for me, and hopefully, you ^-^ I've started writing a RoChu oriented story, which has the working title 'Disguises', but I'm planning to go with another proper title. Wang Chun Yan is a princess who escapes an assassination attempt to her life with the help of her brother, Honda Kiku. Leaving their country, where everyone thinks Wang is dead, they go to the neighbouring country, where they approach the mercenary with the most dangerous reputation, Ivan Braginsky of the Zima siblings. After he refuses to help them, and has his office blown to shreds by the men behind Honda and Wang, he decides to help them, against his better judgement. After giving him more trouble than Ivan needed, when the two of them have to return to their country, and need disguises, Natalya, Ivan's sister, decides to disguise Wang as Honda's mute concubine, and Ivan as Wang's slave! How that works out for them, and the ensuing trouble that follows, is the rest of the story. I've written a chapter and am working on the second one, but I'll be uploading it during my holidays...make sure you check it out when it comes! ^-^**

**Thank you, Pinkdoughnuts and TheEnglishMuffin, for reviewing the previous chapter! I've written my replies in the section at the end, so please check it out! And people, please keep reviewing - reviews make me happy!**

**Without further ado, enjoy.**

**-O-**

* * *

Sestra - Rus - Sister

Dorogoy - Rus - My dear

Da - Rus - Yes

Otets - Rus - Father

Net - Rus - No

* * *

**Chapter 21**

"Where the hell are we?"

_Matt looked around, frowning._ "I'm not sure...but this place looks familiar."

_I looked around as well. It was a well furnished house, and we seemed to be standing in the kitchen, from where we could see a part of what seemed to be the living room._

_I walked out of the kitchen. Mattie went through the kitchen, but I knew he wouldn't find anything - Tony only showed those parts of the dead old man's memories which had something to do with him._ "Mattie, come in here."

_Mattie stepped away from the kitchen while I looked at the living room. It was a small space, which could probably entertain two people, three at the most. By the number of coasters and cups and saucers on the table, I guessed it entertained only two people regularly._

_It wasn't very furnished, but whatever furniture there was in the room was classy, elegant. It looked expensive as hell, and something I definitely wouldn't enjoy._

"No pictures, no memorabilia," _Matt spoke softly as he moved around._ "It's not someone's home, that's for sure."

_I looked down at the floor - the carpet looked rich, like it would be worth someone's annual salary over a couple of years._

"But someone sure as hell lives here comfortably,"_ I said. The wall had green, textured wallpapers, with floral trims and wooden panelling. The cabinets close to the door were made of black oak, which made it pretty clear that if the owner wished to own more furniture or a place three or four times this size, they could._

_The bell rang._

_Mattie froze like a deer in the headlights, and suddenly began running helter-skelter._ "Alfred, we need to hide!"_ he whispered furiously, and dived behind the curtains._

"Relax, they can't see...Old hag Alice?" _I squeaked. Holy cow, but she was hot._

_She emerged from a door at the other end of the hall, wearing a robe tied loosely over a flimsy material that clung onto her torso and barely covered the top of her thighs. Her hair was piled on top of her head messily, and ringlets of her hair fell out of the pile and fell around her face. Her fringe covered the bushy caterpillars on her face, and her green irises sparkled , enhanced by the smoky look she'd done to her eyes. And that cloth beneath the robe didn't leave much to the imagination - if I didn't know who she was, I would have fully appreciated how gorgeous and smoking hot she was._

_Mattie squeaked out her name, which made me look away from her to see him hiding behind the curtain._

"Broski, she can't see you or hear you. Come out," _I said._ "You look like an idiot."

"It's my first time doing this," _Matt protested._ "How was I supposed to know?"

_I just rolled my eyes and looked at the door. Alice's face was lit up, and she looked excited._

"What is she doing here?" _Mattie asked as he came to stand next to me._ "But this is like how she would decorate the place."

_She giggled as she touched the doorknob, and I must say, when the Old hag wasn't an old hag, she was actually very pretty._

_And when she opened the door, she wasn't laughing anymore. In fact, she looked like she'd seen a ghost._

_Our faces weren't much different than hers - for us, we were seeing a ghost._

"Hello, wife," _said the man at the door, and all I could do was stare at a slightly older version of me, with a French beard and hair tied at the neck._

_Oh, and he was bleeding all over the floor._

"Dad!" _Mattie cried out, but I grabbed his arm, pulling him back before he could run to the door._ "You can interact with the things in this time and space, broski," _I told him._ "So don't."

_Matt stopped struggling, but I knew he would run if he could. The funny thing was, I would've let the old man bleed all over the floor._

_Alice looked shocked, like he was the last one she wanted there, and he used her shock to push through the doorway and into the house, with no resistance from Alice. She just closed the door behind her, and turned around to see him sprawled on the floor, leaning against her black oak cabinets._

"W-W-What happened?" _Alice squeaked. I really hated that accent of hers._

"I am shot, wife. Get me...the most potent...whiskey you've got...and a needle and threat. You do...have those things...in here?"

_Even through his pain, his presence was...deafening. He seemed to occupy the whole room, and in the feminine surroundings, he didn't look the slightest bit out of place. He was truly a formidable man._

_Alice bolted, and I understood her fear on a personal level. I looked at the man who was my father - even with the wound, his breathing was almost normal. A pool of blood was slowly forming around him, and all he did was stare at the ceiling and clutch at his wound._

"I think I know this place."

_I turned to Mattie._ "You've been here?"

"Not exactly," _Mattie said, frowning thoughtfully._ "I oversaw the basic design plan of an apartment complex like this one. Do you think I could go to the other rooms?"

_I didn't know, actually speaking, but..._ "I'll come with you," _I said. I'd never really had time to explore the scene of a memory - I was either being chased by a demon or trying to figure out what the hell was going on. I went where Matt wanted to go, followed by him, and he peeked into the other rooms. As far as I could see, there was a master bedroom and a guestroom (which was being used as a study in this case), a kitchen (which we had already seen) and a door leading to a balcony. The details were hazy, like our vision was clouded beyond a point, but Mattie looked satisfied with what he'd seen._

"Yes, this is the place," _he said as we came back to the living room_, "or this is one of the places. Dad had given me the responsibility of certain properties, and I converted one of them into an apartment complex. This room is..." _Matt went to the door, and ran his fingers on the wood of the doorframe._ "There. Room no. 417. I" -

_The doorbell rang, and Mattie jumped ten feet into the air. I turned to the cabinets - the old man was busy stitching himself up, but at the doorbell, he stopped, and looked at Alicia, who has been squatting by him, holding a bottle of half-full whiskey._

_Her green eyes grew wide, and the fear returned into her eyes, but it was a completely different kind of fear than when he'd come into the room. Her eyes darted from the door to him, then turned downwards as she thought furiously._

"Alice."

_She jumped ten feet into the air, and I wondered whether Matt had picked up being a jumpy dumbass from the old hag. But his tone startled even me, the tone which he used to address her - he sounded...cruel._

_He was an asshole to me, but he'd never spoken to me like that, ever. And now that I thought about it, he had always been...sad, apologetic, gentle, and kind. But his actions had always been otherwise._

"Y-Yes?" _Alice asked, and I swear I could see her tremble. The doorbell rang again._

"Open the door. And look normal."

_Both those sentences sounded like gunshots, even though he'd whispered them out. With one bloodied hand he took the whiskey bottle from her, and when their fingers brushed, she snatched her hand back as if she was burnt._

"Hey, Matt," _I called out softly to Mattie, who came back from the door._

"I gave this room to Francis...do you remember Francis Bonnefoy?"

"Not really," _I said, as I watched Alice walk to the door._ "But I think I'm about to be reminded."

"Wha" -

_"Mon ami, tu me manque enormenent," I heard being hurriedly whispered at the door, and a squeak from Alice before everything went silent._

_From where we were standing, we had the same view as the old man did, which currently wasn't much because the door opened towards the cabinets, blocking the view of the entrance to the house._

_But we didn't have to wait long. Francis and Alice stumbled into the hallway, eating each other's face. Alice's over-robe was missing, and he was removing his coat. He threw it on the chair, kicked the door close with the back of his leg, and took Alicia's face in both his hands, deepening the kiss._

_I looked at my blood family present there - Mattie's jaw looked like it was about to reach the ground, and the old man was drinking the whiskey, before putting it down and finishing with stitching the wound._

_Francis was busy unbuttoning his shirt as his mouth roamed her neck. Mattie just looked away. The old man made a knot, cut away the string and poured the remainder of the whiskey over his wound._

_I squirmed. Nasty. Nasty everywhere._

"Alice, how about you give our guest something to drink? I'm afraid I finished the whiskey, but I'm sure he'll need something stronger."

_As soon as the old man spoke, Francis' head came up, and he pushed Alicia away almost violently. All he could do was stand there, with his shirt half open and a prominent bulge in his pants._

_Alice had tears in her eyes, along with shame and anger. Francis had just plain shock. Mattie leaned against the wall, trying to take everything in. Me...I didn't really feel anything. I didn't know Francis, and I hated both the old hag and my old man._

_My old man...I turned to him. He was smiling, tapping the empty whiskey bottle on the floor, again and again. But his eyes..._

_Those eyes were ablaze with Hell's wrath._

_The old man began to glow, and the scene before us grew hazy, the boundaries of the objects disappearing. The colours before us swirled, and finally, the scene disappeared into a canvas of red-black that was my psyche._

"What just happened?" _Mattie asked._

"The old man knew about the old hag and Francis...I guess he finally decided it was enough,"_ I said._ "Do you remember me telling you about the other two memories I had seen before? The old man knew, but God knows for how long."

"I think I do," _Mattie said, and looked at me._ "I think it's time for us to go back to the real world."

* * *

"This is worse than a hangover," Matthew groaned as he held his head in his hands.

"I told you that you can't over-exert yourself the first time itself," Shree chided softly, rubbing his back soothingly. "It'll get better next time."

"I hope so," Matthew groaned, and looked up at the others who had assembled there. "I'm sorry, but this is a terrible headache."

"It's okay, comrade," Ivan said understandingly. "Take your time."

"I was doing my katas," Natalya grumbled, but sighed. She got up from her seat in between Elizabeta and Ivan, and walked to Matt. "Straighten up," she said, and with a groan, he raised his head. Nat got him to rest his head against her stomach, and placed her thumbs against the sides of his forehead. "Tell me where it hurts the most," she said, and moved her thumbs across his forehead, pressingly lightly.

"Umm...Ow! There! There," he said, cringing, and Nat began running the pads of her fingers across his forehead in a definite pattern.

"You're in good hands, comrade," Ivan said. "Literally. No one gives a head massage like Natalya does."

"I don't want to know how he knows that," Alfred muttered, and Shree, who was sitting next to him, giggled.

"Okay, so let's get this straight," Eliza said. "You two saw your father confront Alice and Francis, and catch them red handed?"

"Well, he was the one who was literally red handed, and he spoke to them like he would to a guest, but...yeah, that's about it," Alfred said. "Do you know what all of that is about?"

Eliza shook her head. "I don't, but" -

"I do," Gilbert said, and all of them turned to him. He raised his head, and they all were surprised to see seriousness in his crimson eyes. "Their affair had been going on for two years, on and off. Johnny had put me on their case, making sure that nobody else knew what was going on."

"Wait a minute," Alfred said, frowning. "The old man knew, and chose to let it happen?"

Gilbert nodded, choosing to ignore Eliza's shocked stare towards him. "I didn't know what was happening, either," he said, "but he said he had a meaning to his madness. It started around the time when Johnny had invited Francis to one of the high profile meeting dinners. The two of them met there, and...I guess it started either then or two weeks later, when Johnny had called Francis home."

"If she was so unhappy with her marriage, why did she agree with it in the first place?" Nat asked as she massaged Matt's head. "Why did she stay married?"

"I'm sure it wasn't that easy, _sestra_," Ivan said.

"My dad is - was the most powerful man back then," Matt said, with his eyes closed. "The kind of lifestyle that Alice maintained would have only been allowed if she stayed with dad. That was one of the reasons they got married - dad had the money, and Alice's father, Arthur Kirkland, had the connections. They were an old, powerful aristocracy, but by the time Arthur inherited the legacy, his forefathers had spent all the money and had left no fruitful investments. When dad came along, it seemed like the logical thing to do for the both of them. But Alice hated it, from day one. The way dad handled things, though...she can't hate him anymore, or at least after the divorce."

"What do you mean?" Alfred asked.

Gilbert answered that question. "He allowed them to go on the way they wanted to for two years. He knew of all their movements, and he provided backstories for all their...trysts. Finally, when the divorce did happen, he gave Alice a huge sum of money every year, which was hers to spend - it made sure she lived comfortably until the end of her life. He also made sure her reputation was untainted, and all the necessary stories were in place, so that people didn't ask questions."

"B-But..." Eliza asked. "Why?"

All of them sat silent, thinking about all that they had heard, not looking at each other, deep in their thoughts. Finally, Alfred barked out a laugh, turning their attention to him.

"Of course!" he laughed, but there was no mirth in the sound. "It makes perfect sense."

"What does, comrade?" Ivan asked, looking at Alfred with interest.

"It's about when the dead old man had me in that cell," Alfred said, getting up. "He used to visit me whenever I was conscious, and talk to me about things in his life, sitting next to me in my cell. He'd tell me all these things which would seem completely random, but...it makes sense. Once, he'd told me about how the cell he'd put me in was a ruse, and he wanted to know how I would get out of it. I don't remember what I said, but he told me that he liked that - he liked to know what people would do to achieve their sense of freedom, and what they would do if they were trapped in a box. He basically wanted to know how many people would struggle to get out of the box, and how many people would become comfortable within the box. He said that everyone in his life was in such boxes, and that it surprised him how many people grew comfortable within the boxes he put them in. It surprised him even more when the people he expected to escape stayed within the boxes, finding ways to make it more comfortable for themselves. I told him he was sick in the mind, and that I couldn't get sicker even though I was the one chained to the wall...he said that my box looked like a box, and that mine was the easiest - I just had to escape the cell. But the boxes others lived in...they were the lives they chose to live, influenced by him. I just thought he was messing with my head, but...he was talking about old hag Alice and the Francis-dude. He thought she would leave with Francis, but she never did. The comforts she got because of the dead old man was her box."

"And he made sure she stayed in that box, by paying for her comforts for the rest of her life," Ivan said slowly. "That is almost devious, comrade."

"The dead old man is more than that," Alfred said. "He liked to use everyone as his experiments. He wanted to see what everyone did in certain situations. It got to such heights that he thought of himself as a god, playing with people's lives...he was a sick man. He was the sickest man I knew," Alfred said bitterly. "And I understand why he did those things. I'm...I'm the son he chose to continue his sickness."

Nat's hands slipped to Matt's shoulders as she watched Alfred walk out of the room, and she looked at the doorway with utter bewilderment. "Where did that come from?" she said out loud, not even realising it.

"It's from somewhere deep rooted, _dorogoy_," Ivan said, and Nat turned to him. He got up. "And something that has been told to him again and again. It is something he has seen in people's faces, heard from the demon within him even before he knew there was a demon in him. The very fact that he understands how his father's mind works makes him feel like he is sick. But, somewhere, within us, we all think like that. Those who express such thoughts are monsters, and those who think such thoughts feel like monsters." He walked to the door as he spoke, and stopped before the entrance. "Let me share a philosophy with all of you, which I have understood from my life. We all have monsters within us. Mine and his just happen to be from a different Realm. The rest of the world call it the Mind. How much we feed that monster and how well we control it is what makes us - some of us human, and some otherwise."

Ivan left the room, and all of them looked at each other, unable to decide what to say to the other person.

"So..." Shree said slowly, looking at everyone else. "What was going on before the three of us got here?"

"Priest Ivan was explaining the route we are going to take," Eliza said, looking glad for the change of subject.

"Could you fill us in? We'll pass on the message to Alfred once he's...you know..." Shree said, and Eliza nodded understandingly.

"Yeah, we're back on the road tomorrow," Gilbert said. "It's going to be awesome."

"Yeah?" Shree asked, turning to him. "And why is that?"

Gilbert grinned. "Because we're going in a bigger car, that's why."

* * *

Alfred fell square on his butt, but the rest of his body hurt too much for the fall to register in the slightest. He allowed his shaking arms to hold himself off the ground, then just gave up and let his arms give way. He fell on his back, the thought of getting up far from his mind, and just focussed on getting air into his lungs. A shadow fell over his shut eyes; he refused to open his eyes, and wheezed instead.

"Already tired, comrade?" Ivan asked. Alfred would have glared, but he was too busy wheezing.

Ivan didn't say anything more - he'd broken more than just a sweat, and had his fair share of fatigue. He pulled off his vest, and wrung out the soaking cloth over Alfred's face. Alfred spluttered, but just turned on his stomach instead of retaliating.

"What if I were to kiss you now?" Ivan said as she sat down next to Alfred.

"One...I'm on...my...back...and you...should have...done...that before...unloading that nastiness on...my face," Alfred gasped out.

"You have a point, comrade," Ivan said, and the two of them sat silently, trying to catch their breath. After a point, Alfred's breathing evened out, and he became so quiet that Ivan couldn't help but notice it.

"What is it, comrade? Have you passed out?" Ivan asked, poking Alfred in the side. "Have I succeeded in killing you?"

"Nobody kills this hero," Alfred said, but it wasn't with his usual boisterousness, that Ivan's wonder whether there had been any meaning behind Alfred's unusual aggressiveness during the spar was made concrete.

"It isn't my place to ask you this" -

"So don't."

"I feel like I must, comrade."

When that didn't get a response, Ivan continued. "What is it that in on your mind right now?"

Alfred kept quiet, and he remained quiet for so long that Ivan wanted to pull him onto his back just to see the expressions on his face. At one point, Ivan wondered whether to tell him to forget about it, but just as he was about to say that, Alfred spoke.

"What is going to happen to me?"

That was not what Ivan was expecting. "What is going to happen?"

"If we don't figure out why Tony is here. What will happen to me then?"

"Do you mean before the seal is completed?" Ivan asked. When he was met by silence, Ivan took it as a yes and continued. "Then Tony and you will be bound to each other. Since you didn't summon him, he can pull you to his Realm as soon as the seal gets completed. Depending on who is mentally, emotionally and spiritually stronger, one of you will stay in your Realm, and summon the other. If you are stronger, your body will host Tony's entire being, not just the part that has been sealed in you. Otherwise, you will leave this Realm and reside within Tony's psyche, just as he does yours."

"What then? How will that be?"

"Well, you'll be summoned bodily - you in the sense the one being summoned. The one summoned will reside bodily within the other. He will live in the thoughts and imaginations of the summoner, and also within their true pasts."

"True past?"

"_Da._ We never remember memories the way things happen. Memories change over time. Something you enjoyed once might turn into something you hate. Something you hated might become a happy experience over time. But, somewhere within us is the past, as it happened. That is something only one can access through intense meditation, or by someone summoned into someone else's moda."

"So, Tony can see all my life? Whatever's happened till now?"

"Well...not quite, comrade."

Alfred turned on his back, a frown on his face. "But you said" -

"_Da_. But that is only when Tony has been summoned in his complete form. The part of him that resides within you may not be strong enough to distinguish the memories in your mind from the past that your brain has recorded. Comrade, the way you speak about your demon makes me think that your _otets_ sealed the better parts of Tony's being within you."

Alfred got up. "What do you mean Tony's better parts? And about how I speaking about Tony?"

Ivan drew up one knee, and placed his elbow on his knee, resting his head on top. "You speak of Tony as a friend. You have a name for him. And he doesn't try to kill you when you go to sleep every night." Ivan raised his hand when Alfred tried to get another point across. "Patience, comrade. Your father must have held the entirety of the demon within him before he sealed a part within you. By that time, he must have been able to distinguish all the different parts of the demon's personality, before choosing his...sympathetic part to seal within you."

"You're saying I don't know Tony."

"_Net_. You know the Tony residing within you. But there is a lot more to that than you know."

"So, he's not a nice guy - that's what you're saying."

Ivan shook his head. "You must understand about our Realms, Alfred. They are arranged both horizontally and vertically - there is equal distribution of power, but there is also a...hierarchy of the beings in each Realm. As you go higher, there is a lesser range of emotions that an intelligent being feels. Usually, what is considered kindness by us is considered a weakness, and we consider cruel is considered normal.

"Also, if you summon a being in a Realm lower to yours, there will be not much disturbance in the balance of energy between the Realms. If you summon a higher Realm creature, there will be a disturbance. That is why a contract is made, and the demon resides within the body of the summoner - the contract draws life energy from the summoner and expels it into the Realm of the summoned, which dissipates the energy void. The seal contract is also capable of drawing energy from the summoned and giving it to the summoner, which is how the summoner gets his energy."

Alfred silently listened to him, and took his own time to digest what Ivan had told him. Alfred was belligerent, Ivan observed, especially when it came to him, but whenever Ivan explained the nuances of the Universe and the energy balances, he listened without interruption. He wasn't very quick in understanding, though, but Ivan was surprised that he understood his explanations at all - most priests never got so far in understanding a per cent of the things Ivan explained to Alfred. Alfred was a very quick learner, and he was very sharp - he made Ivan perform the katas or recite the mantras until he had observed all there was to it, and then performed it as many times as it took him to do it to perfection. It was a pleasure to have a student like him - Ivan had taught many students, but most of them were just terrified of Ivan, and Ivan didn't have much patience with such students.

Alfred, on the other hand, challenged him, mocked him - qualities he'd never seen in others before. At the same time, he respected Ivan, and it was a respect untainted by fear. It was something that Ivan wasn't used to - in fact, it was something that Ivan could get used to.

"If Tony were to reside fully in me, I would have more power?"

"_Net._"

"So, whatever I have, it's not Tony's complete power?"

"Hmm...yes and no."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that the power you show is more than the demon's power only," Ivan said, and sighed when Alfred looked at him as if he'd had the entire conversation with the latter in his native tongue. "A large part of what you expend is your own spiritual energy. You spiritual power for someone untrained is...amazing. You have been trained spiritually, but you don't know it."

"You mean like you guys?" Alfred asked.

"_Da._ I guess that you have been taught, but not formally. You and your brother both have significant spiritual energy than most uninformed people have - it is of the level of some of the middle grade priests-in-training."

Ivan found it hard to believe himself. From what Nat had told him about the Fitzgerald brothers, and the letters he'd received from Mathias, Om and his elder sister Katyusha, the brothers had no prior exposure to their way of life, or so they'd assumed, since they didn't seem to know what was going on. But Shree told him that Matt had a lot of exposure to _Maninya_, the language that was a part of their scriptures, and he picked up languages quicker than anyone she knew - it was surprising, because Shree had been surrounded by intellectually gifted people all her life. And Ivan had first hand seen both the brothers in action - Matt's eyes showed that he followed the conversations any of them had in their native tongues or the common language they had picked up in the Academy; Alfred's control over his spiritual energy grew by leaps and bounds, and he only needed to be taught something once and properly to replicate it perfectly.

To Ivan, something didn't seem right. Shree and Nat would have agreed with him, but they were blinded by obvious reasons, and he knew there was no way he could appeal to them.

"Let's continue," Alfred said, cutting through Ivan's thoughts, and got on his feet. Ivan slowly rose, his thoughts moving in a different direction.

There was one obvious question, that everyone was ignoring. Nat ignored it because her immediate concern was making sure the demon returned to its Realm. Shree ignored it because, even thought she wasn't as involved in the events as Nat was, her primary concern was to ensure that Alfred and the demon remained in good terms, and that Alfred learned how to access the demon's powers. According to Ivan, maybe Matt, Gilbert and Elizabeta had originally come along with the question in mind, but they had forgotten it along the way, getting completely involved in the events after Johnny Doe's death.

The question was so obvious to Ivan that it seemed laughable to him that none of them had tried to answer it before. Maybe it had flashed to them, but because of the problems piling on one after the other, they had not seen it important to answer. And Ivan understood why - the topic of Matt and Alfred's past seemed painful to them, and they never divulged about their childhood. All Ivan knew was they lived with their mother from birth, and after becoming teenagers, they began to living with their father; when Matt was declared heir to his father's worldly possessions, Alfred was declared heir to his otherworldly possessions.

Ivan's question had to do with the demon. Neither he nor Alfred has any choice with regards to having a demon bound within them - it was either done completely against their will or with no information at all in their direction. Ivan's question was simple -

Why did Johnny Doe summon the demon?

* * *

**A.T: I realised I'd never put this out there. The system of temples and Houses that I got I came up with from the Udupi Shri Krishna Matha in Udupi, India. Manipal is twenty minutes from there, and every time I go to Manipal, I make sure I go to Shri Krishna Matha. Basically, you have a huge temple for Shri Krishna, and two other temples in the complex. Within the complex, you have mathas - I don't know exactly how to explain it in English, but they are basically priest families which are given temple lands owned by the Shri Krishna temple, and these lands fund the functioning of their matha. The matha is from where I got the concept of Houses. There is a term of five years or somewhere around that time period, and one matha is given the responsibility of running the entire temple complex for that term, and the privilege to do the puja for the temple deities. Each matha has its own deity, and the matha heads are extremely spiritually powerful people. What I know isn't even a per cent of the actual story, but it inspired me to make the House system for this story.**

**The scriptures and the basis of Realms and Universe I've loosely based around the Vedic teaching.**

**I'll put a disclaimer here, though. Neither the House system or the scripture or the Realms or anything in this Universe can be seen as an authentic source for study of either the Udupi Shri Krishna Matha system, or for the Vedas. What I have done and what I have created are from ideas that grew out of being exposed to the temple and the Vedic scriptures. I've taken a train of thought that came out of this exposure, and made it my own by putting my own spin on it. Please do not consider anything in this story as something you can call as a representation of the Udupi Shri Krishna Matha or the Vedas. Yes, the ideas are very similar, but no, I'm not trying to replicate them, so they are not representations of the real thing.**

**In other news, I'd been to another National Service Scheme Camp, which was very successful - out of twelve competitions, we came first in four competitions, third in another and overall, we came runners' up, against 15 other Universities. After that I was in Manipal for three days, a stay I enjoyed thoroughly. All in all, I needed the combined break of one and half weeks - the negativity in my college was getting to me. I'm glad I am where I am, and I'm glad I have a few people who are fond of me and I'm glad I enjoy what I'm doing, but the kind of negativity I get after staying in my college for too long was getting to me, and I needed this break. I decided to expect nothing good out of my college except for what I decided to go there for - the course and teaching. **

**Well, I'm back and refreshed. Another six weeks for my exams to start. T-T.**

**Do check out the RoChu story when it comes up - I'll inform you about it here, but do check it out. It's going to be something different, and I know I'm going to enjoy it thoroughly. **

**Well, thanks for reading another chapter. Please leave reviews - they really make me happy!**

**All my love,**

**R. K. Iris.**

* * *

**Review answer section:**

**Pinkdoughnuts: **

**Yo! Thank you for your review - they come around like clockwork, and it makes me so happy to see them! **

**Well, I thoroughly enjoyed writing that. I had that in mind for a really long time now, and to get the feel of IvanxAlfred, I read through a load of crap before I got to some really good ones. Skye had mentioned that she wanted to see a NatxIvanxAlfred triangle, and I wanted it, too - we just wanted the triangle to move in a slightly different direction, though.**

**I'd love to change Alfred from, "No homo, bro" to something slightly more approvable for the rest of us ^_-**

**I'm really sorry to hear that! I hope your eye's become better now. *prays hard***

**I hope you had some wonderful holidays! As always, thank you for your review!**

**-O-**

**TheEnglishMuffin:**

**Ehehehehehehehehehehehehehe.**

**Where I'm taking this? Trust me, you'll enjoy it. And Ivan's got plans with both members of our favourite couple(s) - so I'll let you think about that one ^_-**

**Alfred and Matt's past, as well as Nat's, is slowly going to unfold. Ivan's question in this chapter, and the questions he's going to pose further ahead in the story, all have their basis in the three of their pasts, although none of them know it. And like Ivan says, Nat and Shree are too involved with the Fitzgerald brothers to be objective enough to see this. Gilbert and Eliza only know how much they've been shown, although Gilbert's been shown a lot more than Eliza has been, but even his knowledge isn't enough in context for him to be able to answer Ivan's questions well enough. **

**There will be enough going on to make you forget about their pasts temporarily - if everything were to unfold in the beginning, there wouldn't be enough to run the story by. Unlike My Friend Natalia, there isn't a clear villain here trying to stop our protagonists from achieving their goal, or trying to destroy their lives. To me, Johnny Doe is not an antagonist or a villain - by the end of it, you'll understand that he was as much a slave to circumstances as the rest of them are. The boxes discussion that Alfred brings up in this chapter is his way of trying to understand that by summoning a demon and binding the demon to him, did he actually escape a box or did he just lock himself up in another one? By experimenting with others' lives, he tries to answer that question.**

**Before I end up telling you my entire head rant for this story, I'm going to stop here.**

**Thank you soo much for your review, darling - it really brightened my day! Have a wonderful week!**


	22. Ivan can be an asshole

**A.N.: Announcements!**

**My exams are from June 10th, all the way to July 19th. Needless to say, I will not be uploading during that time - I won't be coming home during that time.**

**This is the last chapter I will upload for now, and I'll be uploading again after my exams are over only. I will be writing in my notebook, though, so don't worry about me discontinuing this. I'm going to see this to its eventual end, so whoever is following this story, don't worry.**

**That's it for story related announcements. Personal announcements after the chapter.**

**Also, this chapter might have a lot of mistakes, simply because it's a really long chapter and there's a lot going on, and I haven't typed in weeks, so I've completely lost touch. Really sorry about that.**

**Thank you, pinkdoughnuts and TheEnglishMuffin, for reviewing! Replies at the end segment, as usual.**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

Dorogoy - Rus - My Dear

Yoni - Hole

* * *

Chapter 22

"Wow. This _car_ is bigger," Alfred said as he studied the monster before him. "Who's driving?"

"Me!" Shree yelped excitedly, but Ivan grabbed her by the neck. "Oh, no, _dorogoy_, I remember exactly what happened when I let you near my car last time."

Shree bit her tongue sheepishly. "Aw, Ivan, I'm sorry," she singsonged. "I won't do it again.

"Don't be cute, Shree," Natalya said, and chucked her bag into the car. "I'm going to sleep. Eliza, do you want to drive?"

"I thought Matt wanted to drive," Elizabeta said, and looked to Mathew questioningly.

"Let the awesome me drive!" Gilbert yelled.

"Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha - No, bro," Alfred said, shaking his head. "You ain't driving, not with that bladder of yours."

Gilbert upturned his nose into the air in disdain towards all of them. "How unawesome," he said, and climbed into the car.

Matt joined them, carrying his bag. "I'll drive, if it's okay with you, Priest Ivan."

"I do not mind, comrade," Ivan said. "And please, let us not be so formal."

Matt smiled, and handed his bag to Alfred, who sat in the shotgun seat. All of them climbed into the car, but Matt stopped Shree before she sat.

"Umm, Shree, hey," he said shyly, and all Shree could think of was how cute he was.

"What is it, Matt?" she asked, turning around to face him.

He rummaged his pockets, his face pink and concentrating furiously on the task at hand. Shree looked at his face, wondering what he was upto, then stared at wonder when he brought out a small garland of flowers, with the prettiest arrangement of flowers Shree had ever seen - and she had seen a _lot _of garlands in her lifetime. Violet, white, red, yellow, orange, blue, pink - there were so many colours in the garland, but the colours had been combined to be complementary to each other. Instead of being utterly chaotic, the colours flowed into one another in perfect harmony.

"I saw some of the priestesses making garlands," Matt said quietly as Shree admired the garland, "for the prayer ceremony. They saw me staring like an idiot," he chuckled, "so they called me and showed me what they were doing. They let me make one, so...may I?"

Shree looked at him, startled, and saw him holding up the garland. "Huh?"

"It's like a bracelet," he said, and it took Shree a couple of moments to look away from his gorgeous smile and understand what he had just said.

"Uh? Yeah - oh - Yeah," she whispered, holding up her hand, butterflies fluttering in her stomach as he tied it around her wrist.

"I saw you walking to the temple then, and I figured I'd make it for you. And all the colours...they reminded me of you," Matt said as he tied the last knot to secure it around her wrist. "I know it'll wither away in another day or two," he said, his fingers lingering on the skin around the bracelet, "...and you will probably have to" -

Matt stopped talking as Shree reached up and kissed him on the cheek. He stared at her, watched as a smile bloomed on her face and said, "Thank you. It's beautiful."

Resisting the urge to fling herself at him and give him more than a peck on the cheek, she turned around and walked around the car to the driver's seat.

"Yo," Alfred said as she sat in the seat. "Where's broski? Is he going to drive?"

"No..." she said. "He...something came up."

"Oh," Alfred said. "Pretty bracelet." He watched as Shree turned tomato-red, and understood. "Present?"

Shree narrowed her eyes at his tone. "Oh, shut up. And ask your brother to get in."

"Why don't you ask him yourself, doll?" Alfred drawled, but before Shree could yell at him, the back door opened and Matt got in.

"Comrade, please don't let her drive," Ivan pleaded.

"Oh, I don't think he's in a position to say anything," Shree muttered. Before Alfred could ask her what, Shree revved the engine, and drove away.

* * *

The air suddenly turned miasmic, and the ones who felt it immediately were Alfred and Ivan, whose demons grew alert. Nat, Shree and Matt felt it moments later, and even Gilbert and Eliza sensed the difference, even if they didn't feel it the way the rest of them felt it.

"What is that?" Matt asked, looking at the tense faces around him.

"It's a _Yoni._ Literally, that means 'hole', but we use it to describe open patches in the separation between the Realms," Ivan said. "It's common to have such patches here and there - it is made by anomalies in the flow of energy in the Realm."

"I've read about it somewhere," Matt said thoughtfully. "Wherever the energy current of two adjacent Realms crash, it forms a Yoni. Priests and other spiritual beings of other Realms use them to travel between Realms."

"If it's natural, it doesn't feel that way," Eliza said slowly. "It feels extremely unnatural."

"It's not," Shree said from the front as she manouevered another pothole. "Usually the Yoni is big enough to allow two, maybe three creatures to pass through, regardless of which Realm they're from. This Yoni is big enough for maybe a hundred members to pass through, or at least fifty members. That's why you can feel the presence of the Yoni so strongly."

"Speaking of large Yoni," Ivan said," your city is one big Yoni." When Matt, Gilbert and Eliza looked at him in shock, he continued. "You wouldn't sense it, since you were raised there or have got accustomed to it. But your city - Fitzgerald - is entirely resting on a Yoni which can easily allow the passage of some thousand members through it."

"If this can let a hundred members pass and you can feel it so strongly, the energy blanket of the Yoni under Fitzgerald can be felt all the way to the surrounding countries," Nat said quietly.

Matt, the first to comprehend, looked to Nat. "You could feel it till your temple in Senchessy," he said.

Nat nodded, and looked out of the window. "The worst part is," she murmured, and only Alfred and Matt could hear her, "that the Yoni in Fitzgerald was never supposed to be there. It's all wrong."

"What?" Gilbert asked, unable to hear what she'd said, but had still heard her murmuring.

"Nothing," Nat muttered, but what she'd said had a profound effect on both Alfred and Matt.

"I feel pukish," Eliza groaned, and rested her head against the seat of the car in front of her.

Ivan turned around and looked at Eliza. "Where does it feel bad?" he said.

Eliza raised her head, and clutched her stomach still tightly.

Ivan tuned completely, and stood his knees on the seat. He motioned Gilbert to ease her back into the seat, and after Gilbert did so, he loosened her grip on her stomach and gently moved her hands away. He placed both his hands on her stomach, and closed his eyes.

-o-

What do you want?

_'This woman is reacting to the Yoni.'_

This is an abnormally powerful force.

_'Only she reacts like this.'_

It is countering the energy she carries within her. The man and the demon's brother will also react the same way in a short while. Take them away. You, the demon and the priestesses stay back.

...

You have a plan. A cruel end, if it does not work.

_'Not all lessons are kind.'_

Not all lessons need be cruel. He need not learn the way you have.

_It is a test, then. And all tests are cruel._

-o-

"Shree, stop the car."

Shree and Nat looked at Ivan, who spoke in their common tongue. "What? Why?" Shree asked, continuing to drive.

"Alfred and I will get down. You drive them away from the Yoni - their bodies are reacting to the current within the Yoni. They are probably still tuned to the energy current in their home city. Before they become sick " -

"What do you mean by you and Alfred will get down?" Nat asked slowly.

Ivan couldn't lie to her. "I wish to introduce a practical aspect of his training" -

"That's like saying there's a theoretical part to your training," Shree said.

"Are you guys talking about me?" Alfred asked innocently, unaware of what they were saying, let alone what they were talking about.

But Nat was aware of exactly what Ivan was upto, and what he meant. "You are going to let him fight the demons on his own, aren't you?" When Ivan didn't respond, Nat growled furiously. "And what? He'll die, Ivan" -

"I'm his teacher, Natalya," Ivan said quietly.

"You're being sadistic, an f the boy doesn't even know what you're throwing him into" -

"Natalya!" Ivan exclaimed quietly, but his tone was that of muted violence. "If you let your attraction to the _boy_ blind you, I am no one to stop you. But if you let you ill judgement affect other's assessment, I will warn you to stop before you cross any lines you should stay behind. Do not question me, and do not put me in a position where I question _you."_

Matt turned to Nat, who looked like she'd been slapped. He turned to Ivan to say something, but the man looked so far removed from the rest of them that it was frightening. And his eyes...

His eyes were devoid of emotions, of humanity.

"Shree," Ivan said, his tone flat and hauntingly blank.

Shree stopped the car, and turned to Ivan. "I will keep the rest of them away from the Yoni. But if Nat decides to join you, then I will not stop her."

"Your kindness warms my heart," Ivan said in the same tone as before.

"Get out of the car before I slap you," Shree said flatly, keeping her rage at bay as she turned around and sat in her seat, doing everything she could to keep quiet when Ivan told Alfred to get down from the car, and Alfred did as he was told.

It was at times like this that Shree struggled to give in and believe that somewhere fundamental, Ivan had given up his humanity to be a complete, terrifying monster.

* * *

"What are we doing here?" Alfred asked as the car drove away, leaving them behind. "And where are they going?"

"Your brother and his friends are finding it difficult to adjust to the current of energy in this Yoni," Ivan said, "since their body in still adjusted to the current of energy of the Yoni in your hometown. all of them will begin to feel nauseous if they stay within the Yoni. I asked Shree to drive until they reached the edge." Well, he wasn't lying, technically.

"Oh," Alfred said.

"And we're staying back for a practical class."

"Practical class?" Alfred said, frowning, but whatever more he wanted to say was forgotten when a chill went up his spine. He knew that feeling all too well.

Death. Death was standing behind him.

He turned around slowly, and saw a army of...things...what the fuck was that?

"That looks like the hate child of a beetle who fucked a human in the dick," Alfred said.

"Language, Alfred," Ivan said. "That does look very disturbing, though."

"Good Lord above," Alfred swore. "I have to fight _those_? Nuh uh. I'd rather surrender" -

"Look at them through Tony's eyes, Alfred," Ivan interrupted, and Alfred silently bit his tongue. With a sigh of disgust, he changed his senses from human to otherworldly. And what he saw made him cry out loud. "The hell?"

"What do you see?"

"They're just energy forms! That...fucked up body is just a shell!"

"Why do you say that?"

"Because the only energy in that shell is in the limbs...the core is hollow."

"Hoe many of them are there"

"...around 300."

"Okay, then. Go."

Alfred shook his head, and his vision snapped to normal. He spun around, shocked. "Go wha" -

Ivan grabbed Alfred by the hips, and yanked him towards him. Before Alfred could gather enough breath to squeak in surprise, Ivan just smiled before lowering his mouth to his.

Alfred's eyes nearly popped out of his skull, and made the mistake of opening his mouth to scream, allowing Ivan to invade Alfred's mouth with his tongue. Alfred raised his arms to punch the fucking daylights out of the man, but Ivan grabbed both his fists while working on his mouth.

Oh good lord in heaven...but the guy could _kiss._

Alfred felt himself growing hot, and he felt his knees growing week. His mind rose with rage and indignation, but the man...he could feel himself reaching, reacting, reciprocating, and he couldn't do anything about it.

Ivan's tongue went in and out, and his lips pressed against Alfred's, squeezing and releasing. The man tasted clean, and Alfred could feel a slow heat being generated within him, starting from his loins and spreading through him.

Alfred pushed against Ivan's mouth, and remained in a state of suspended shock when Ivan drew back, and opened his eyes.

"Don't...do that..." Alfred panted, shocked at the state of his voice. Ivan grinned slyly, and reached down again, licking at the trail of saliva that had dribbled down the side of his mouth. Alfred could do nothing but breathe heavily, trying to get his senses together.

"Do that again," Alfred said, "and I'll fuck you with your own dick."

Ivan grinned. "You're compliant, comr" -

"I'll fuck you with your dick wrapped in sandpaper."

Ivan grinned wider. "I think I'd enjoy that."

"You're sick," Alfred said, and turned around. "You're sick in the head."

Ivan looked at the seal he'd managed to scribe on both of Alfred's wrist while kissing him with satisfaction. He wasn't as heartless as Shree and Nat thought he was - he wasn't going to let Alfred die. "Get through all those demons on your own, comrade, and I'll stop with my...sexual harassment."

"What an incentive," Alfred muttered, and felt energy pounding through his body. Ivan watched as Alfred transformed before his eyes - his hair flashed red and gold, a mass of flames that was as alive as the heart that beat within him. Gold and red zoomed across his hair and disappeared at the tip, moving in rhythm to the thrum of energy within. An aura enveloped him, the boundary between him and his aura blurring. Ivan felt the waves of his energy rippling the current of the Yoni's energy, and was truly impressed.

Alfred was powerful.

He zoomed away, a flash of red and golden, and Ivan silently watched. But was he powerful enough?

He felt a mass of energy wiped out at once, and felt some more energy being cleared out. Ivan smiled. Alfred was having fun. If he continued at this rate, he could finish up in another -

Ivan frowned. This was bad.

_There are more emerging from the Yoni._

Ivan's lips tightened in a firm line. '_He can handle it' - _

_You cannot sense it now, but the energy of the Yoni is countering the demon's energy flow. Outside the Yoni, he would take ten minutes. Within the Yoni..._

-o-

"He won't last five minutes."

Nat looked at Shree, digesting all that she'd told her. "You're saying it's a suicide mission?"

Shree pressed her lips into a thin line. "I don't like this for one second, Nat. He could easily take care of a thousand of those demons within minutes. He's going to be drained of energy, and fast."

Nat looked at the car. Matt, Gilbert and Eliza were all queasy and nauseous by the time Shree reached the end of the Yoni. After asking them to remain in the car, the two of them set up a spiritual barricade, changing the flow of the energy within the barricade to match Shree's. The two of them stood outside, and Shree told Nat everything that was happening within the Yoni, her prowess and extent of spiritual energy second only to Raj's, and third only to Om's.

"Does Ivan know?" Nat asked.

"Lucifera would have told him."

-o-

_What will you do? He can last for five minutes before he turns back._

Ivan crossed his arms, and thought. Even as Alfred cleared out fifty of them, another hundred appeared in their place. And if nothing else, his body would start feeling the weariness, albeit very weakly, right about then. But...

'_He will last for eight.'_

_That is a gamble. A cruel gamble._

_'He will not die.'_

_He might._

_'He will not.'_

_You are a cruel man._

Ivan smiled. '_And you are my cruel mistress.'_

-o-

"What the actual hell?" Alfred groaned out loud. "Tony, what's going on?"

_There are too many of them, Alfred. In place of one, two appear._

_"_That's fine. What's wrong with us?" Alfred asked, but before he could hear Tony's reply, a punch landed squarely on his jaw, sending him flying for a few seconds before he caught back his balance and straightened midair.

_It's this energy...it moves against ours._

_'And?' _Alfred asked mentally, engaged yet again in simultaneous combat with twenty demons.

_It is stronger than our energy, therefore it causes resistance in our flow. To over come this, we expend energy in the form of heat - _

_'Like resistance in electric circuits?'_

_Precisely._

_'So...what do we do?' _Alfred asked, growing more frustrated as time passed. '_I put down one of these assholes, and three more jump up! What the' - _Alfred cried out when one of them landed a kick. His balance lost, he couldn't defend himself, and the twenty odd demons took their chance.

A barrage of claws and feet attacked him all at once., like hard weapons made of steel. Alfred cried out, grunted in pain, his body throbbing all over. He closed his eyes, his frustration building until -

"_Aaaargh!"_

-o-

They all watched as a brilliant flash burst in the sky, its energy radiating in waves that dragged everyone to their knees. Those unfortunates close to the epicentre burnt to vapours within seconds, and the remain demons burnt to various degrees.

Shree and Nat from afar, and Ivan within the Yoni, felt multiple energies, in the hundreds, disappear at the same time - some wiped out within seconds of touching the brilliant golden explosion of raw energy, others fleeing through the Yoni, abandoning their burning, disintegrating bodies.

And the sound accompanying the golden blast...it sent chills through all those who heard it, the sound of a yawning abyss opening, revealing a darkness reflecting the darkness of the one who dared to look in, a prospect so terrifying it could stop one's heart. It was a roar of absolute terror, a roar that chilled one's blood to ice. It was a roar of rage, of pain, of a guttural emotion that was as primal as the need to survive.

The stead glow of light pulsated brilliantly one last time, and died down, its intensity reducing to nothing within a few seconds.

Nat's eyes adjusted to the normal light, and she saw Alfred's body in mid air for a few seconds, his head and arms lolled away from the rest of his body. And then, that long moment ended, and he plummeted to the ground.

"Alfred!" Nat screamed, the sight of his falling body snapping her out of her haze. Ignoring Shree's startled yell, she sprinted towards where Alfred was entering the energy field of the Yoni.

It didn't affect her body - her internal energy could easily adjust to the external energy flow; the product of her priestess training. Her hand absently rubbed against her forearm, and she realised that the amulet that sensed Alfred's mental state had tightened so much it had cut off her blood supply to her arm, and when he'd fallen unconscious, it had loosened immediately, all at once.

She jumped over a fallen branch, and hit the ground running, only one thought running in her mind.

_'Alfred.'_

* * *

_He is unconscious._

Ivan didn't respond as he walked towards Alfred's fallen body - he had sensed that the moment his body had released the final surge of energy. "He managed to change the flow of energy in this Yoni," Ivan said out loud. "Do you know how many people can do that in this Realm?"

_Your people are terribly weak._

"But this one is not," Ivan murmured, stepping over the scaly shells the other Realm creatures had used for bodies. He looked away from the bodies, and what he saw stopped his heart's beat.

The few demons who had survive, albeit barely, were holding Alfred's unconscious body, dragging him across the ground. And when Ivan's heart began to beat again, multiple things crossed his mind.

He could feel Nat's life energy rushing towards them. The Yoni had reduced in size, and could allow two, give or take a few, creatures at a time. Its energy's grip had reduced as well, probably because of the reduction of the Yoni's size. Demons were getting up slowly, inhabiting bodies which were slightly more better off than other bodies. and they were all moving to do the same thing -

Get Alfred through the Yoni.

_Ivan..._

She rarely used his name, Ivan realised absently, through the haze that seemed to envelop him. _What are you..._

_'Oh, you know.' _The energy within Ivan changed course, and he felt the tattoos on his arm come to life. _'Restrain level: 2.'_

_So be it._

-o-

Nat froze. Her body could adjust to an external energy, but the thrum of energy that emerged from where Alfred was was an energy no one in their right mind would get adjusted to - one of the ways the energy she was feeling killed was by manipulating the internal energy of those around, changing it until the energy flow turned negative, disabling the function of biological cycles in the body.

'_Alfred._'

Nat's feet picked up, and she ran, literally stumbling into the clearing within seconds. And found herself standing opposite the Yoni's entrance, with Alfred to her right and Ivan to her...

Nat's jaw slackened at the sigh of Ivan. His eyes were closed, and his entire body thrummed with a purple aura. His silver blond hair was streaked with purple, and his face displayed strips of purple, red and black. His expression was so peaceful, that it almost looked like he'd fallen asleep on his feet.

Nat wasn't fooled, and neither were the demons.

A presence grew behind Ivan, and Nat was shocked that Ivan had removed his restraint to one of the lowest levels. A woman, swathed in purple leaning to black, walked from behind Ivan. Her skin changed from alabaster white to swarthy brown, and her hair floated in the air, surrounding her like an aura of black and red. And her eyes...

Nat looked away. One look at her eyes, and anyone was finished.

She looked at the demons near Alfred. The few who hadn't looked her in the eye were shaking from head to toe, and the rest of them were frothing at the mouth, shaking violently. Nat couldn't see it like Shree could, but she sensed clearly that not only were the shell-like bodies shaking, but so were their cores.

_'Alfred!'_

She looked at Alfred, and tried to get to him - the longer he was exposed to Lucifera's energy, the lesser time he had to live, since Tony (whose energy she couldn't feel) wasn't available to protect Alfred's natural energy from being manipulated. But the blanket of Lucifera's energy was suffocating, and Nat was having a difficult time walking through.

"_Leave him alone," _emerged a voice from behind, and Nat's blood turned to ice. Some of the demons succumbed to the sheer pressure of the miasmic energy, the rest of them immediately moved away from Alfred, stumbling over their own selves as they moved away from him.

Nat trudged on, her lips constantly moving, reciting protective mantras, trying to extend the field of its spiritual barrier to Alfred. But Lucifera was sheer power. She was so powerful that Ivan and General Zima had constructed a 36-level restriction barricade to make sure Lucifera was under Ivan's control at all times. Usually, Ivan kept her at level 36, and even at maximum restriction, the wisps of her energy still surrounded Ivan, like floating vines around a tree. Ivan's intrinsic spiritual energy was enormous enough to reduce entire cities to ashes. Along with Lucifera...

Nat knew Lucifera wasn't Ivan's demon's real name, but no one, save Ivan and General Zima, knew her real name. It was the name Raj had given to her, when they'd seen her, for the first time, during their days in the Academy.

She was still just as terrifying. How all of them were still alive was a shock - General Zima had once joked that her eyes were the most beautiful things in the world, because they came with the greatest price. Usually, her eyes remained closed, covered by her hair-aura. She only appeared in a physical form below restriction level 7 and at level zero, General Zima said that there would be no difference between Ivan and Lucifera. It had happened once after the restrictions had been established, well before Ivan had mastered control over Lucifera's energy. It had been his perpetual state as a child, his control dependent on the whim and fancy of the demon. And Nat knew that Lucifera, with her state of natural cruelty, had a lot of whims and fancies.

She trudged to Alfred, and stumbled to her knees upon reaching him. She grabbed his shoulders, and dragged him onto her lap, her voice breaking under the onslaught of tears that rolled down her face. She buried her face in her neck, not for a second ceasing the chanting of mantras that would protect her and Alfred, not for her turbulent emotions, not for the lump in her throat, not for the tears flooding her face.

He was alive. Alfred was alive.

-o-

"_Leave while you can."_

The puny creatures didn't wait for a second longer. The few still alive made a dash for the Yoni.

_Shall I kill them?_

_'No. Let them be.'_

_Is that all, then?"_

_'I'm afraid so. You'll have to come back in.'_

_I have become used to the laziness in your world. I do not mind._

_'Restriction level: 36.'_

Ivan opened his eyes, but he'd never stopped seeing what was occurring in front of him. There were bodies scattered all over the ground, and in the middle of the sea of scales sat Nat, Alfred on her lap, her head buried in his neck, her body convulsing with sobs.

"Natalya..." Ivan called out, but his voice didn't emerge from his mouth any lower than a whisper. He'd never seen Nat crying so...profusely - he'd never seen her cry even at the funeral nearly two years ago, where everyone expected her to break down. Katyusha, his elder sister, had told him that she had cried as soon as the deceased body was brought before her, but after she had finished, she'd left the monastery in search of answers.

And Ivan could deny it how much ever he wanted to, and justify what had happened may be even convincingly, but he loved Natalya, and he couldn't lie that her distraught state had been brought about by him. And Nat would never blame him, but Shree...

Said woman, walked before him, and before he could open his mouth, she slapped him with the back of her hand.

Ivan didn't resist, and staggered under the force of her blow. And it wasn't a feminine slap which hurt like a mosquito bite - Shree put her full physical force and backed it with the fire of her anger.

"You asshole!" she screamed at him, brown eyes turning black with rage. "You nearly killed him!"

Nothing he said would help anything anymore, Ivan realised. "Except one thing. "Look at his wrists" -

"Don't you dare talk! You knew what was going on, and you just stood and watched the show!"

"Natalya, look at his wrists" -

"Don't even go there," Shree warned. "He could have died, and then what? What would you have proved? That you" -

"Shree."

Shree stopped abruptly, and turned to Nat, who had called out to her. Nat held up one of Alfred's wrists, revealing a symbol, one which Shree recognized immediately.

"He couldn't have died," Ivan said slowly. "Every injury he sustained was transferred to me in seconds. He would have consumed all my life energy before dying." Ivan didn't say anymore than that; he refused to say anymore.

"It's the energy shock," Nat said, wiping at her bleary, red eyes. "He's unconscious because of all the energy he was carrying."

Shree looked at Ivan. The anger still burned in those bottomless eyes, but she didn't look like she wanted him dead anymore.

"Go rot in hell," she growled at him, and walked to Alfred to heal him, Ivan assumed.

Oh, he would. Yes, he would.

* * *

**A.T.: Gods, I love Shree.**

**Fun fact: Yoni in Sanskrit is the word for the female genitalia, and refers to the non-human form of Shakthi. It is worshipped by Hindus all over the world as one of the most powerful forms of energy.**

**I'm getting a new scooter! I've started using a scooter to travel to and from college, and the one I was using for the past two weeks broke down, so my parents decided to get me one since I'll be using it for the next five years. It's matte blue, and its gorgeous - I'll get to use it from this Sunday!**

**I'm falling for with a guy in my class, who also happens to be a really good friend of mine. Who also happens to like me a lot, too (it's kinda obvious). Even if he doesn't ask me out, I like this feeling - my previous relationship was dysfunctional and messed up, and it left me believing that I could never trust myself when it came to things like this, and I didn't have the capacity to be in a romantic relationship with anyone. I decided that I wouldn't be in a romantic relationship for the next five years (four, now), because it was too much drama, and I didn't want that. But that's what life's about - it heals you over time, and if you wait long enough, good things come your way.**

**And no, I still don't want a relationship - I still think it's too much drama. But I'm happy liking this guy quietly, and I'm curious as to see what he'll do, exactly. I'm happy where I am, and after running around in a relationship for over a year, I'm lazy now, and I don't feel like making any effort. So let's see how this goes.**

**One year of my Veterinary life is almost at a close. Wo my freaking Ghad. I can't believe a year's almost up. WTF. To a year of crazy adjustments, and new beginnings. *holds up glass of orange juice***

**What else...? I have exams for over 40 days. I'm going to die. My ghost will take over finishing this story. **

**After my exams, I'm meeting all the people who've left town for their studies! I'm so excited! I get to meet all my besties, and hopefully have a sleepover! (I wanted to meet my ex, because it's been a year since I saw him, and honestly, I am fond of him and care about him, but now...no. Let's see, though.)**

**Well, I bid you adieu with a heavy heart. I'll be back by July, so wait for me, okay?**

**Until then,**

**All my Love,**

**R. K. Iris.**

* * *

**Pinkdoughnuts:**

**Thank you for the review! **

**Well, it'll unfold over some more chapters...we've still got quite a way to go, so hold on tight!**

**Well, Ivan is crazy - he nearly got Alfred killed, as we see here. But a certain someone beat him over the head about his shittiness, and told him to grow up and to stop trying to be the monster under the bed for everybody...we'll see that certain person soon enough. But he considers Nat as his little sister, and Shree was one of the few people not intimidated (after growing up with a spiritual prodigy like Om, it's hard to be intimidated by anything else) by his energy or the fact that he had a demon within him. He genuinely cares for them, and they care for him, but Shree really doesn't take shit from anyone.**

**And I love Ivan, too, so I'll try to give him as little problems as possible ;) **

**Thank you so much, once again! See you in July!**

**-O-**

**TheEnglishMuffin:**

**The favourite part of my day - Reviews!**

**Thank you so much, darling, for your review! I really look forward to them!**

**Well, Matt had a different perspective of his father than Matt did. Matt saw what everyone else saw, maybe slightly more, but Alfred Sr. chose his elder son as his confidante, however unwilling from the other end, and showed a completely different side of himself to Alfred Jr. Why that is, you'll get to know in the end.**

**Well, things will begin unravelling in a while, sometime in the distant future...piece by piece, as I say. If I gave the whole thing at once, it'd be kind of boring, wouldn't it? ;)**

**Well, Johnny Doe surprises me, too...his entire character motivation is something that'll hit you square on the nose. The empire, the demon, the everything that is relatively Johnny Doe is linked to one major factor in his life, and he did whatever he did because of that one factor. But we have Nat, Shree, Ivan and the rest of the gang to piece it together for us, which they will do quite wonderfully. **

**I wish I had time to work on the RoChu story along with this, but with exams coming up, I'm completely tied up. Once exams are over with, I'll work on it and make it into something amazing, and I'll put an extract on here, maybe. Let's see.**

**Thank you so much, darling! See you in July!**


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